Miraculous Tails
by PBO
Summary: Three mysterious superheroes make their Parisian debut just in time to acquaintance themselves with Ladybug and Chat Noir. Tensions rise as Papillon goes on a spree of transforming unsuspecting humans into supervillains. Will the new superheroes prove to be great allies to Ladybug and Chat Noir... or mortal enemies?
1. Lady Ombre

The scene at Collège Françoise Dupont was pristine and welcoming as usual on this beautiful day. The student body was making their way towards their first classes, socializing and chatting away with their good friends. One student in particular was being quite sneaky today, however.

Marinette hid behind the front steps of the school entrance to talk to Tikki, the small red Kwami with black polka dots who could fit in the palm of one's hand.

"Marinette, are you nervous about working with these new heroes?" questioned Tikki, her antennae wiggling about adorably. "Master Fu gave them the Miraculouses. That means you can trust them."

"I don't know, Tikki," said Marinette. "It took me a while to trust Chat Noir, and I'm still not completely sure what to make of him. It's going to be hard getting used to even more heroes. What if they get in my way or if I get in theirs? There's also the possibility that one of them could be working for Papillon."

"Stop stressing yourself out, Marinette," warned Tikki. "You're gonna be fine. You will save the day like you always do, and if things don't go as planned, I know you will make the right decision. You're still Ladybug. No one can take that away from you."

"You always know how to make me feel better," sighed Marinette. "Thanks, Tikki."

"Marinette!" called Alya, Marinette's energetic best friend.

"Tikki, hide!" whispered Marinette. Tikki zipped into Marinette's pink backpack in the blink of an eye.

Alya ran up to greet Marinette with a hug. "There's a new hero in town," she started. "I saw him this morning!"

Alya released Marinette from the embrace and pulled her phone from her pocket to show Marinette exactly who she was talking about.

"He looks charming, right?" teased Alya. "There are rumors that there are three more. That means there are—"

"Six heroes," said Marinette flatly. Her eyes flickered at the screen. The hero was wearing a white costume with gray accents. She spotted that his nails were actually claws and a rosary draped around his neck.

"Six heroes in Paris? That's so cool!" said Marinette, smiling nervously. This new hero's Miraculous was so visible...

"They could be here for a mission," said Alya. "Or they could just be on vacation, or they could be looking to recruit more members. We may never know, but I'll try my best to find out." Alya clutched her camera phone firmly.

A few feet away standing on the school's front steps were two young male students Marinette hadn't seen before.

"Seline!" shouted one of them, a boy with medium-length brown hair. He waved his hands to catch Seline's attention. "Over here, you dummy!" His transparent eyes quickly glanced at Marinette, making her gasp for a second before flashing a smirk and turning back to Seline.

"I've never seen them before," said Alya, scratching her head.

"That's because they're new," said Adrien. He caught Marinette and Alya off guard, leaning against the brick wall with arms crossed and Nino standing next to him. "Those two are Timothée and Gérard Molyneux, and the one walking towards them is their cousin Seline Marc. They were in Japan for awhile. My dad used to work with Seline's father back when we were kids."

"Th-That's cool!" said Marinette. Her face flushed bright red as she glanced at her crush.

"We should introduce ourselves!" said Alya, nudging Nino with a grin. "Right, Nino?"

"They're older than us, Alya," whispered Nino. "They'll eat us alive!"

Before they knew it, they were face to face with the three new kids.

"Adrien Agreste, right?" Seline's voice was soft and gentle, her long black hair tied up into a high ponytail. Her black oversized jacket covered most of her upper body as if she had something to hide. "My dad worked with your dad, remember?"

"Yes, of course," grinned Adrien. "How is he, anyway? I heard a... yokai got to him."

"Yokai?" thought Marinette, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Wouldn't know," shrugged Seline. "He made me come here before I even got the chance to ask. Oh!" She gestured towards the two boys beside her. "You've never formally met, have you? These two are my cousins, Timothée and Gérard." She readjusted her choker, moving the pendant to the center of her neck.

"Bonjour, mes amis," said Timothée, flashing that same warm smile at Marinette, making her blush. "We're studying abroad here, actually. We're part of the foreign exchange program."

"What year are you guys, anyway?" asked Gérard, the noticeably shyer bespectacled curly-haired boy.

"We're sophomores," answered Nino from behind Alya. "I like your rosary, Timothée. Where did you get it?"

"My great grandfather gave it to me," said Timothée, instinctively fiddling with the rosary between his fingers. "It's a family heirloom. Been in the family since ancient times. Older than anything, apparently. His words, I swear."

Timothée chuckled, carelessly winking at the younger kids. There's something about him that's… mysterious.

"Interesting," Marinette mumbled, softly shaking her bag to make sure Tikki was listening.

"The famous Marinette... is that you?" Seline set her eyes on the shy girl. "I love your earrings! Our aunt had similar ones too."

Seline nodded with a mischievous smile. Not many people knew that her aunt, Jeanne, was one of the first Ladybugs in this current era. Seline felt sick to her stomach once she realized Marinette, the new Ladybug, would never live up to the heroism of her aunt. Master Fu always took care of Jeanne whenever she needed help as Ladybug, but one day she disappeared, never to be found...

The bell rang, alarming everyone back to reality. The students all scattered, heading to their respective classrooms.

"See you guys later!" said Seline, pulling her cousins with her to get to class.

"Did you guys see that!?" Alya smiled brightly and grabbed onto her best friend as they walked to class.

"What didn't I see?" said Marinette.

As she saw Seline and her cousins walking away, Marinette didn't know what to think of her new classmates. They seemed nice enough, but she got the feeling that there was more to them than they were letting on.

Meanwhile, in another classroom, the most popular girl in school was talking to a redhead wearing a distinct, multicolored visor.

"Hey, robot girl," said the snarky blonde. "Aren't you afraid you'll run out of batteries soon?"

"I already told you, Chloé," said Mireille from behind the visor. "I wear this because my skin is sensitive to sunlight."

"In that case, you must be jealous that you can't have sunkissed skin like mine," said Chloé. "Anyway, that visor is so five years ago. I'll take a picture and send it to everyone to make fun of it." Chloé whipped out her phone and took a quick picture of the poor girl. "Oh, look at that. 200 dislikes already. 200 people can't be wrong."

Chloé cackled on the way back to her seat. Mireille's soft sobs could be heard underneath the visor as she ran out of the classroom and into the girl's restroom.

Far away in a dark, imposing lair was where the supervillain Papillon resided, zeroing in on his newfound victim. A large, butterfly-shaped window opened like a camera shutter, shining rays of light down on Papillon.

"My little akuma," he said, with the unmistakably sinister tone that was ever present in his voice. "Do what you must."

Papillon released the dark butterfly. The akuma found its way to Mireille and attached itself to her visor.

"Hello, Lady Ombre," said Papillon. His insignia formed over Mireille's face like a mask. "I'll give you what you need in return for the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir. I believe in you, Lady Ombre. Now envelope Paris in eternal darkness!"

"I'll do anything to get my revenge, Papillon," said Mireille, transforming into Lady Ombre. She flew out the restroom window to see a happy world basking in the purest rays of light, but the people of Paris were her prey now.

"Citizens of Paris," said Lady Ombre, her voice ringing through the ears of everyone around. "Your lovely heroes are the ultimate fakes! They're nothing without their powers, but here I am, your new heroine—Lady Ombre! Fail to please me and you'll be left behind as nothing but a shadow!"

Lady Ombre aimed her palm at a young, petite girl and zapped her. The girl phased through the floor, becoming nothing but a distressed shadow. Everyone around her ran and screamed in a chaotic panic.

"Nice meeting you, Lady… Lady what?" asked the familiar voice of a girl. "Sorry, I wasn't here for the intro." Tigresse Blanche laughed, looking at the akumatized Mireille from the ground. She was flanked by Lion and Léopard.

"The name's Lady Ombre, thank you very much!" she wailed. "And who are you supposed to be? Some bargain bin version of Ladybug? How pathetic."

Lady Ombre tried zapping Tigresse Blanche but missed as the superheroine quickly dodged the attack with her feline instincts.

"I am Tigresse Blanche, à votre service," she said, bowing politely. She kicked her feet off the ground, lunging towards Lady Ombre as an evil laugh escaped from her lips.

Chat Noir and Ladybug arrived at the scene but were surprised to find heroes already taking care of the problem.

Lion noticed the two dumbstruck heroes. "Cat got your tongue?" he asked, chuckling to himself. "You can do it, Tigresse Blanche!" He backflipped onto the side of a building and launched himself towards Lady Ombre, swiping at her face with his brass knuckles. Tigresse Blanche started to fight hand to hand with Lady Ombre.

Léopard made his way towards the two. "You two must be Chat Noir and Ladybug, correct?" he said. "How rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Léo—"

"Enough talking and help me, Léopard!" yelled Tigresse Blanche, tackling Lady Ombre to the ground. She threw her fist at Lady Ombre's face before jumping away into a defensive stance.

Paris' original heroes were both left speechless.

"That means there are three more Miraculouses," said Ladybug, swinging from building to building on her yoyo. "That's impossible, right, Chat Noir?"

"Looking lovely, Lady Ombre," said Léopard, jumping high enough to kick the flying akuma. "So what's the problem?"

Tigresse Blanche grabbed Léopard's nunchucks and wrapped it around Lady Ombre. Lady Ombre escaped from her bonds and blasted Tigresse Blanche into a fountain.

"Her yokai must be different, Blanche," said Léopard.

"That's because it's an akuma," mumbled Ladybug, swinging her yoyo to wrap around Lady Ombre's ankle, bringing her down to the floor along with the three heroes. "It belongs to Papillon. Only I can purify the akuma."

"Well," said Léopard. "Do what you need to do, then."

Tigresse Blanche cut him off, sitting up on the floor. Chat Noir grabbed the akumatized victim's visor from her palm and handed it to Ladybug. She broke it on the floor, then a small dark butterfly flew out of the visor.

"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug did her magic and purified the black butterfly into a white butterfly. "Bye bye, petit papillon." Her yoyo came back to her. She looked at the new so-called "heroes."

"Now, who are you three?" Ladybug placed her hands on her hips. "Well?"

Chat Noir had a hard time telling if Tigresse Blanche was even looking at them. Her mask covered all of her face, only leaving her eyes visible with a lens over them. Her suit was also all white with a few black stripes. Her belt had a couple of weapons that weren't really clear.

"I'm Tigresse Blanche," she said haughtily. "I was given an order to come here. I just didn't know there'd be a new Ladybug."

"So rude, Blanche," said Léopard. "You'll hurt Ladybug's feelings, but yeah, a little birdie mentioned you needed help. Especially you, Ladybug."

Léopard grinned his sly little grin at Ladybug, catching her off guard. "Have I seen that smile before?" she thought to herself.

"A new Ladybug?" asked Chat Noir, stepping in front of Ladybug protectively. "She's BEEN Ladybug. For a long time now."

"No, she hasn't," laughed Seline. "She's new. She doesn't live up to my Ladybug—the REAL Ladybug. Forget it. You have training with me, chaton."

Tigresse Blanche shot Chat Noir a cute smirk. Chat Noir blushed. Ladybug noticed Chat Noir's reaction all too quickly, frowning.

"A kitty like you needs to improve on his combat skills," purred Tigresse Blanche.

"Speaking of which," said Lion. "Your jumps really aren't that high."

"What a blondie, little kitty," Tigresse Blanche nodded, grabbing Chat Noir away from Ladybug. "I've never seen a black cat with blonde hair before."

"Don't mind her," shrugged Léopard. "She's not used to seeing new superheroes. It's new for all of us."

"Us?" said Ladybug, looking up at Léopard innocently. "How many are you?"

"Be careful," said Lion. "All that counting could give you a headache."

"Hey! That's my tail!" Chat Noir yelled, feeling Tigresse Blanche pulling on it.

"No, duh," mocked Tigresse Blanche. "Do you even know how to use it? I swear, we're dealing with kids here, Léo." A beep came out of Tigresse Blanche's pendant. Her time was running out. "Oops, gotta blast! Till next time."

These three new superheroes were an asset for Ladybug and Chat Noir, but Ladybug couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't as "super" as they claimed to be. And who was this other Ladybug that Tigresse Blanche kept talking about? Ladybug was going to make sure to figure out the secrets hiding behind that tiger's eyes one way or another.


	2. Doctor Toxica

Chapter summary: **The school science fair is disrupted by Chloé when she orchestrates her own fashion show, prompting the frustrated science teacher Madame Curie to be akumatized into the venomous Doctor Toxica.**

Seline Marc's room was a typical teenage girl's habitat with posters of superhero movies and K-pop boy bands adorning the walls. Stuffed animals laid stacked on a dresser drawer. On the opposite side of the room was a vanity mirror with makeup tools for any social occasion.

"I still don't like her," said Seline, sitting up on her floral canopy bed as she talked to Taag, her small white tiger kwami. "She's nothing like Aunt Jeanne."

"That's because she's not Jeanne, Seline," said Taag. "She's Marinette and you have to respect that. Master Fu always chooses the right holders. You're lucky Master Fu allowed you to keep me. It was supposed to be a one time thing, but y'know, things happen." Taag shrugged, his tail wrapping around his little body.

"I even have my doubts about that," replied Seline. "Maybe he saw something in me, or maybe I don't deserve you, Taag."

Seline's eyes started to water. Taag perked up, patting Seline on the back supportively.

"You do deserve me, Seline," said Taag. "You just need to understand that you're a hero yourself! You're not bad, not even a dumb 'anti-hero' like you say you are." Taag snuggled into Seline's cheek, making her giggle. "I'm glad I have you."

"I'm glad I have you too, Taag," smiled Seline.

"But seriously," said Taag, floating to talk face-to-face with Seline. "Can you start being nice to people?"

"I'll try my very best," said Seline, trying to suppress a mischievous grin. "I just want to be more like my aunt. She was so much better than I'll ever be."

"Like I said," started Taag. "All of you new Miraculous holders are unique in your own way. You'll find your own path to greatness in time."

"You're right," said Seline, sitting up in bed with fists clenched triumphantly. "I'll keep trying and maybe even teach Ladybug a thing or two!"

"That's the spirit!" cheered Taag, raising his little paws in the air.

"All right," said Seline. "Now I need to be on my way."

Breakfast time at the school saw students eating sweet fruits, fluffy croissants, buttery pancakes and drinking freshly pressed orange juice. Seline was in the middle of eating a colorful parfait when she heard someone say her name.

"Seline," called out her classmate Monique, a girl with light caramel skin and cascading curls of hair. She grabbed Seline by the hand, rushing her away from the cafeteria and to their lockers. "Did you see the new heroes? They were amazing! Look!"

Monique pulled out her phone and showed Seline a picture of two new superheroes, Léopard being the one caught jumping midair above Monique's left shoulder from afar while Tigresse Blanche was sparring with Lady Ombre.

"They look like a duo," said Monique. "Someone said their names were Léopard and Tigresse Blanche. Apparently, they're named after big cats. How charming!"

"A new duo?!" said Seline, feigning shock before feeling a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes flickered when she saw Gérard.

"I heard they're a trio," said Gérard, flashing a cheeky smile at Monique.

"Trio? But there are only two?" inquired Monique, looking for more pictures but only finding the two new heroes. "I don't see another one!"

"But he's right there," said Gérard as he peered at the phone over her shoulder. "In the corner, see? That's his tail and his foot."

"How did I miss that before?" asked Monique.

"Less flashier techniques are underappreciated," shrugged Gérard.

"Don't mind him, Monique," laughed Seline. "I doubt they're a trio. That other one is probably just along for the ride."

"Believe whatever you want to believe, Seline," said Gérard, walking away as Monique slammed her locker shut.

"I guess he's right," said Monique while squinting hard at the photo.

"With all these new superheroes running around," trailed Seline with a sly smirk. "Anything's possible."

"Well, I'll see you later!" said Monique. "Gotta go to class."

"See you soon!" said Seline still standing at her locker trying to process everything that just happened. "We're gonna have to be a little more careful from now on."

"I think that's a good idea," said Taag, poking his head out from her backpack. "It was easier to run about in Japan, but the people of Paris are a little more vigilant."

"Not to mention superpowered themselves," said Seline. "Speaking of which… I wonder what Marinette is doing."

In a lecture hall stood a demure black-haired teacher in front of a packed classroom.

"OK, class," said Madame Curie, the science teacher. "Today, I am excited to announce what we have all been waiting for. You all will be presenting a project for today's Science Fair! Isn't that exciting?"

Madame Curie donned a party hat and cheerfully played a kazoo. She continued her announcement with a wide grin.

"All grades will be attending and it is in fact mandatory to participate," continued Madame Curie. "You have the entire class time today to finish up what's left of your projects. The judges will be Madame Mendeliev, Madame Bustier, and Principal Damocles. The fair will start at half past noon in the gym and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me! You may begin."

"She's right," said Marinette to her project partners Alya, Juleka and Rose. "This is exciting!"

"You're the only one who feels that way, girl," said an exasperated Alya.

"Really?" said Marinette. "Don't you want to see what everyone else came up with? It might be something you've never seen before."

Marinette's eyes scanned the room for other projects when Seline's group caught her attention. She saw that they were working on a makeshift rollercoaster with cardboard, wooden pieces and a little car.

"Hey, girl," said Alya, snapping Marinette back to reality. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, it's just Seline's project looks so cool," said Marinette. "I can't let her beat me—I mean, us! Our project has to be just as good as theirs. No, better!"

"Whatever you say, girl," remarked Alya.

Seline's group added the finishing touches to their project when the science fair was signaled to start.

Meanwhile, in the principal's office was a familiar scene: Chloé Bourgeois and her lackey Sabrina Raincomprix pestering a worn out Principal Damocles.

"This little science thing is cute and all, Monsieur Damocles," said Chloé. "But don't you think it would be perfect to do a fashion show, you know, starring moi?"

"No, Chloé," said Monsieur Damocles, standing strong before Chloé and Sabrina. "The both of you, listen. We've already discussed this. I will not allow you to have a fashion show, of all things, during a mandatory science fair!"

"Hmph," said Chloé. "We'll see about that! I'll just call my father, you know, the MAYOR of Paris, to resolve this little issue of ours. Maybe he won't be so generous as to donate to the school anymore."

Chloé pulled her phone out, quickly dialing her father's number. The principal choked on his own words.

"W-Wait!" said Monsieur Damocles. "Fine, but this is the last time, and remember to let your father know how kind I was to allow you to make this change of plans."

Chloé and Sabrina let out high-pitched squeals, scurrying out of the office victoriously.

"I already have everything planned out," said Chloé.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Sabrina innocently.

"Picture it," dictated Chloé with a calculating gleam in her eye. "An impromptu fashion show is just the thing we need to turn this totally boring day into an event to be remembered! All I need is the perfect modeling partner…"

"I'm in," said Sabrina.

Chloé and Sabrina scoured the halls of the school, finding Adrien talking to Nino and Max in front of their project, a small turntable with a robotic hand positioned over the vinyl.

"Adrikins, my love," gasped Chloé with her whiny voice and puppy dog eyes. "I need help, please! This way!"

Chloé pulled Adrien to the back of the gym behind a curtain. Adrien raised his eyebrow in confusion as he saw dresses and designer clothes from Alex Wang lined up against the wall.

"What is this?" asked Adrien. He felt a pit in his stomach, realizing Chloé was up to something. "What's going on, Chloé?"

"Well," started Chloé. "I thought to myself, 'is there anything more boring than a science fair? No!' And that's when the idea came to me—I can make this totally drab day totally fab by dazzling everyone with my modeling skills alongside my perfect modeling partner!"

"There's a science fair going on right now," said Adrien with a somber frown. "My classmates need me." He started heading back towards his project partners.

"Where do you think you're going?" said Chloé. "What is wrong with you? How can you be so caught up in a stupid science fair when we could be supermodels?!"

Adrien turned to face Chloé from across the room.

"Did you forget I already work as a model?" said Adrien. "When I'm at school, I just want to be a normal kid like everyone else. Why don't you get that?"

Hearing Adrien reject the offer broke Chloé's heart just the tiniest bit. She looked down at the floor to hide her teary eyes while Adrien rejoined his friends.

"I could be a model with you," said Sabrina sheepishly, eagerly clasping her clipboard.

"Argh!" screamed Chloé. "Just forget it!"

Chloé marched away before stopping dead in her tracks. The science fair was starting and she still had all the elements ready for her fashion show. Just because Adrien refused to be a part of her plan didn't mean it had to go to waste. She put on the most beautiful red dress imaginable, bedecked with diamonds and gemstones.

"When Adrien sees me, he won't be able to resist," mumbled Chloé. "Now to find the perfect opportunity..."

Back at the science fair, Madame Curie made her way through each of the students' presentations followed by Mesdames Bustier and Mendeliev. They visited a table with a cat sleeping in a small bed. Beside the table, Juleka held a cat in her arms, accompanied by Marinette, Alya and Rose.

"Rose," said Madame Curie. "May you please explain what it is we're looking at?"

"Of course!" said Rose. "Everyone knows that cats make everyone happy, right? Well, I started to wonder: what makes cats happy?"

"So," interjected Alya. "Through the process of deduction and many experiments we have discovered that cats make cats happy. Take it away, Juleka!"

Juleka placed the cat in the bed next to the first cat. The first cat woke up and the two started circling around each other. They cuddled and fell back asleep next to each other.

"Aw!" squealed Rose. "Seeing cats happy makes me happy!"

"How is this supposed to be science?" asked Madame Mendeliev.

"That's your cue, girl," said Alya, motioning Marinette towards the teachers.

"Uh, well," stammered Marinette. "This p-project was a-about… serotonin levels! Yes, and the results of this project proved that what raises the serotonin levels of cats are even more cats which means they are social animals who crave interaction with fellow members of their species."

"Wow," said Madame Curie. "That's actually very impressive. I'd say we would give this project a B+. Right, judges?"

Mesdames Bustier and Mendeliev nodded in agreement. The three girls celebrated while Marinette gave a sigh of relief.

"Hey," said Marinette. "I thought Monsieur Damocles was supposed to be a judge. Where is he?"

"He's still in his office," explained Madame Bustier. "He refused to come with us. When I asked him why, he said Chloé would explain but I can't find her anywhere."

At that moment, all the lights shut off. "Ladies and gentlemen," echoed Chloé's voice from the loudspeaker.

"Oh, no," said Adrien, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Try to control yourselves as I amaze you with the world premiere of Chloé Chic!" boomed Chloé's voice.

Sabrina yanked the rope to open the curtains from the stage. Stagehands rolled a red carpet down the middle of the gym, forcing students and teachers to jump out of the way. Upbeat dance music started pulsing through the room as Chloé strutted down the carpet in her red dress followed by models wearing various couture outfits.

"What is the meaning of this!?" yelped Madame Curie, turning to find Chloé with a smirk on her face. "Chloé, this is a science fair, not some fashion show!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Chloé. "Well, if it's not a fashion show, then why are there models, clothes and a runway?"

Madame Curie grew angrier, glaring at Chloé. Unbeknownst to everyone, a purple-black butterfly fluttered its way into the school.

"Monsieur Damocles said I could have my fashion show!" said Chloé. "This is my time to shine. Now move!"

Chloé laughed, finishing her walk at the end of the catwalk as several students hurled insults at her:

"Stop this nonsense!"

"We still haven't presented our project!"

"Could you stop already?"

As everyone protested against Chloé, the dark butterfly attached itself to a chemical stain on Madame Curie's lab coat.

"Doctor Toxica," said the menacing voice in Madame Curie's head. "I am Papillon. From now on, nothing and no one will be able to overpower you, but if you want to stop all of Paris from undermining science, there's one thing you must do—defeat Chat Noir and Ladybug! You must bring me their Miraculouses!"

"If that's your command, I'll do as you wish, Papillon!" said Madame Curie.

Madame Curie's skin turned pale green and her straight black hair stood up on end, two white stripes zigzagging up her hair on either side: she was Doctor Toxica now. She cackled, holding beakers emitting toxic fumes which she threw haphazardly at the students.

"I'm getting really sleepy," said Rose.

Many of the students and models fell unconscious. Those that weren't hit attempted to escape but couldn't get the exit door open. Seline instinctively looked for a place to transform only to be stopped by Timothée.

"Gérard should be the one to help them," said Timothée. "You didn't make the best impression last time."

"Fine," sighed Seline, arms crossed. "But I'm keeping my eye on Ladybug."

"Anyway," said Timothée. "We should hide somewhere, like under the bleachers."

"Kimba," said Gérard as the three of them ran for cover away from prying eyes. "Transforme-moi."

"You got it," said the little golden-brown lion cub kwami.

Elsewhere in the girl's restroom was Marinette.

"Tikki," said Marinette. "Chloé has got to stop akumatizing people. I'm beginning to think she might be working with Papillon."

"Don't be silly," said Tikki. "Either way, we have more important things to think about."

"You're right," said Marinette. "Transforme-moi!"

Ladybug swung into the gym on her yo-yo.

"Doctor Toxica!" shouted Ladybug. "Leave these students alone!"

"How can I when no one cares about science?!" screamed Doctor Toxica in response.

"I wouldn't say 'no one.' There are still science geeks," joked Chat Noir as he pole jumped into the gym.

"You're not helping," said Ladybug.

Doctor Toxica threw a beaker at the two heroes' feet and they jumped out of the way before it exploded. Seline stepped forward from the bleachers but was once again held back by Timothée.

"Let Ladybug handle it," said Timothée sternly. "I swear, you never listen to me."

"Are you sure?" said Seline, taking a step back. "She's just so…"

"Let her grow into Ladybug," mused Timothée.

Up in the platforms along the perimeter of the gym crouched Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"We have to think about this before heading in," said Ladybug. "Do you see her lab coat? I think that's her akumatized object."

"So all we have to do is get close enough to remove it and destroy it to release the akuma," said Chat Noir.

"Leave that to me," said Lion crouching next to them.

"You again?" questioned Chat Noir. "When did you get here?"

"Don't worry about it," said Lion. "Chat Noir, I just need you to lunge at her from behind at the right moment and I'll handle the rest. Follow my lead."

"No, wait!" called Ladybug as Lion leapt into the battleground.

"Doctor Toxica!" said Lion. "I regret to inform you that your prognosis is bleak. You will be disappearing in just 5 minutes."

Doctor Toxica threw a beaker full of green colored liquid at Lion's feet. As it burst, Lion pounced forward at her. She jumped high into the air backwards to avoid him.

"Now, Chat Noir!" yelled Lion.

Chat Noir pole vaulted and kicked Doctor Toxica from behind back towards Lion, who assumed a fighting stance and waited for just the right moment to strike.

"Power of Ra!" cried Lion.

His brass knuckles glowed bright yellow, a heat wave blowing Doctor Toxica's lab coat off her back as the brass knuckles made contact with her. Ladybug lassoed the coat with her yo-yo and tore it in two.

"What?" said Ladybug. "Why isn't the butterfly coming out?"

Doctor Toxica threw a beaker at her own feet propelling her towards Ladybug so she could snatch what was left of the lab coat. She jumped back to the gym floor and poured liquid from a test tube onto her lab coat remains. The coat merged back together as she triumphantly put it back on.

"So what do we do now, bug-a-boo?" said Chat Noir.

"There's only one thing left to do," said Ladybug. "Lucky charm!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo high into the air and out came a red water gun with black polka dots.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" asked Ladybug.

"Have fun at a children's party?" said Chat Noir.

"Or maybe punish a certain cat?" teased Ladybug.

Ladybug's eyes traveled from the water gun to the chemical stain on Doctor Toxica's lab coat to the funnel on a science project to an assortment of beakers near the gym entrance.

"Chat Noir! Lion!" called Ladybug. "I've got an idea."

The three heroes regrouped, huddling closer together to listen to Ladybug.

"There's a stain on her lab coat and I'm sure that's where the akuma attached itself," said Ladybug. "I think if we clean the stain, Madame Curie will be set free."

"So all we have to do is get soap and water?" asked Chat Noir.

"No, that won't work," said Ladybug. "We need something stronger. There's a cleaning agent in one of those beakers at the front and there's a funnel on that table over there. Bring those to me while I make a diversion."

Chat Noir and Lion did as they were told. Ladybug yo-yoed around the gym.

"Doctor Toxica!" shouted Ladybug. "Science is so lame! It's my least favorite subject!"

"How dare you?!" bellowed Doctor Toxica. "I'll teach you a lesson you will never forget!"

Ladybug effortlessly dodged the beakers thrown her way. Chat Noir came to the table with the beakers but didn't know what any of them held.

"Hey," said Chat Noir. "Which one of these am I supposed to take?"

"It's the blue one!" said Ladybug as a beaker just barely missed her.

"Right," said Chat Noir. "Thank you, my lady."

The three heroes regrouped once again: Chat Noir with the cleaning agent, Lion with the funnel.

"Bring it here," said Ladybug.

Ladybug placed the funnel at the mouth of the water gun and poured the cleaning agent into it.

"There," said Ladybug. "That should do it. Now we need to trap her."

"Sounds like a job for me," said Chat Noir. "Cataclysme!"

Chat Noir's claws burned with black energy. He grabbed a pillar holding up a platform, making it rust and become unstable but still standing.

"I know what to do," said Lion. "Professor Toxica! I have a question. Why is science so useless?"

"Such insolence!" shouted Doctor Toxica.

She lunged towards him but Lion jumped out of the way at the last moment causing her to crash into the pillar. With the support pillar down, the platform above it collapsed, trapping Doctor Toxica underneath.

"It's time to say goodbye, little akuma," said Ladybug as she aimed the water gun at the stain.

She pulled the trigger and a stream of cleaner hit Doctor Toxica's lab coat right on its stain. As it washed away, a little butterfly formed where the stain used it be. It started flying away.

"I'm freeing you from evil!" cried Ladybug

Ladybug used her yo-yo to purify the butterfly.

"Je t'ai eu!" said Ladybug. "Bye-bye, petit papillon."

The dark butterfly turned into a white butterfly, flying high above her head.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" yelled Ladybug as she threw her yo-yo into the air, leading a wave of healing ladybug essence to rush over the damage, leaving everything in its path repaired. The unconscious students woke up and Doctor Toxica turned back into a confused Madam Curie. Lion approached his fellow superheroes.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced," said Lion. "I'm Lion."

"Yeah," said Ladybug, unamused. "We've met before."

"I have to say, Miss Bug," started Lion. "It's been a pleasure fighting alongside Paris' heroes today."

"The feeling is mutual," said Chat Noir, not completely sure how to feel about this new ally.

"That's good," smiled Lion. "We all need to help each other when we can. It'll keep us all on our toes, don't you think?"

A loud beep came out of all of their Miraculouses.

"Looks like that's our cue," said Ladybug. "Until next time, Chat Noir. Lion."

"Until next time," echoed Lion.

The three of them went their separate ways. Lion made his way towards the bleachers and de-transformed, meeting up with Seline and Timothée.

"That was incredible," said Seline in amazement.

"Just because I'm the quiet one doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing," said Gérard.

"I could've taken her," blurted Timothée, prompting Seline to roll her eyes. "All by myself, too."

"Yeah," said Seline, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course, you could."

Seline looked to the middle of the gym, seeing the science fair was left exactly as it was before all the destruction happened. In the corner of her eye, she could see Marinette going back to her lab partners as they talked in hushed tones.

"I wonder what's on her mind," thought Seline as she and all the other students returned to their stations.


	3. Meany Mouse

Chapter summary: **What was supposed to be a fun-filled day at Disneyland Paris is put to a stop when a disgruntled mascot transforms into the akuma Meany Mouse**.

It was a bright, sunny day in Paris, a welcome change after the recent akuma attacks. The city was bustling with excited civilians enjoying the great weather. On this day, our heroes took the opportunity to take a well-deserved break at one of the happiest places on Earth: Disneyland Paris!

Seline, Timothée and Gérard were finally enjoying a day off from school. Their bruises weren't as noticeable anymore but the young heroes still had sore muscles from all the acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat.

"I want a churro from Fantasyland!" said Timothée.

"That's all the way at the other end of the park," protested Seline. "Why don't we just go to Frontierland and get some there instead?"

"I want what I want!" snapped Timothée, noticing he startled Seline. "Sorry. I think all the heroics we've been up to lately have messed with my temper."

"It's fine," said Seline. "I get it—oh! Excuse me!"

Seline bumped into a blond boy. She looked up to find that it was none other than Adrien Agreste.

"Sorry about that, kitty," chuckled Seline.

Timothée noticed the people accompanying Adrien: Marinette, Alya, and Nino. He continued listening to Seline's conversation with Adrien.

"O-Of course," stammered Adrien. "Don't worry about it, Seline! What are you guys doing here by the way?"

"What do you think?" asked Timothée, gesturing towards Sleeping Beauty's majestic, cotton-candy colored castle in the distance. "Same reason why you're here."

"Oh! Right!" said Adrien, turning red.

"It's been our dream ever since we came to France," giggled Seline. "But you get to come here all the time. Don't you, kitty?"

"Why do you keep calling Adrien 'kitty?'" interrupted Marinette, tilting her head in confusion.

"It's because his eyes remind me of a kitten," explained Seline, turning to Adrien. "Sorry, Adrien. I didn't mean to upset your girlfriend."

"S-She's not my girlfriend," blurted Adrien. "She's just a friend_._"

That last sentence kept bouncing around in Marinette's mind, her eyes widening. She turned to her best friend, Alya who gave her a sympathetic shrug.

"A great friend," chuckled Nino. "Right, Adrien?"

Adrien looked at Marinette, realizing the effect his words had on her. Marinette just coyly smiled back, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Anyway," said Seline. "We'll see you around!"

Seline, Timothée and Gérard turned away, waving goodbye to Adrien's group.

"W-Wait!" called Adrien, not entirely sure what he was thinking. "Can we come along?"

Adrien's words made Seline pause, while Timothée huffed and rolled his eyes.

"For what?" mumbled Gérard, looking at Adrien. "We were doing just fine by ourselves."

Seline shrugged, looking at Timothée to see if he had any concerns. Gérard had already walked away, waiting in line to get the churros Seline promised.

"I guess you can tag along, Adrien," said Seline. "I just don't want your silly girlfriends getting jealous."

Seline laughed, catching up to Gérard.

"Girlfriends?!" exclaimed Adrien. Timothée pointed at Chloé who was fast approaching. "Oh, no. Not her!"

"Adrikins," whined Chloé. She ran towards Adrien and hugged him tightly, placing a small peck on his cheek. "I didn't know you were here, Adrikins!"

"I'm here with my friends," said Adrien.

Seline's group had already left to get their churros, leaving Adrien hanging with Chloé.

"Thanks a lot," sighed Adrien.

"You're welcome, Adrikins," said Chloé. "Now that I'm here, you and I are gonna have so much fun!"

Adrien pulled Chloé away and continued walking in the same direction as the other group. Seline, Timothée and Gérard were taking selfies with their churros, making funny faces into their phones.

"Smile," said Seline. Timothée took a bite of the churro while Seline and Gérard smiled for more pictures when she saw some rides in the distance. "Oh. Look there, and there! I want to go on all of them, especially Big Thunder Mountain! We're, like, right there!"

"That ride is too intense for me, Seline," said Gérard. "I'll get sick if I go on that. We can go on Peter Pan's Flight instead!"

"I wish we could go on that one," said Timothée, pointing at an attraction covered under a tarp. "If only we had waited two more months to come here, we could've gone on it."

"I swear," said Seline, irritated. "You two are such party poopers. Wait for me down here, then."

From a couple of feet away, Adrien saw a chance to be with Seline alone and took it.

"Hey there, tiger," chuckled Adrien, catching up to Seline. Seline's ears perked up when she heard the word "tiger" and she panicked internally.

"Tiger?" asked Seline. "Where'd you get that name from?"

"Oh, it's just a normal phrase, right?" responded Adrien.

"Right," said Seline with a nervous giggle. "Well, why are you here? I thought you and your friends were spending time together."

"Yeah… it's just," started Adrien just when he realized he was at a loss for words. "Um… I saw you walking here alone and… I thought..."

"Oh," interjected Seline. "You were going to come on the ride with me? How nice of you!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Adrien, giving a sigh of relief. "That's exactly what I was doing. C'mon, let's get in line."

"Okay," said Seline, holding onto Adrien's hand as they got in line together. "Um… I hate to be rude but your hands are kind of… sweaty."

"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Adrien nervously. "It's a hot day, you know? The heat is just going straight to my head."

"I know the feeling," said Seline.

Seline and Adrien waited in queue, an open air path that snaked around coal mining machinery. Before they knew it, they were already at the head of the line.

"How many?" asked the ride operator ushering people onto the ride.

"Two," said Adrien, putting up two fingers.

"All right," said the ride operator. "Watch your step."

"After you, my lady," said Adrien, catching himself as he felt his ears turn red. He only ever called Ladybug "my lady."

"What a gentleman," said Seline, taking a seat on the ride beside Adrien. "Gah! I'm so excited! I haven't been on this ride in a couple of years. How about you?"

"I actually come here every summer," said Adrien. "But it's great getting to ride with a new friend."

"I know, right?" said Seline. "It feels like the first time."

Seline placed her hand on top of Adrien's, and his eyes widened immediately.

"Adrien?" said a familiar voice from behind.

"Ch-Chloé?!" said Adrien, equal parts shock and annoyance in his voice.

Chloé and Sabrina were seated directly behind Seline and Adrien, to each other's surprise.

"Adrien," started Chloé, clearly angry but trying to keep her cool. "I was wondering where you went. I guess you went off with your little friend."

"Hi, Sabrina," said Seline, ignoring Chloé. Sabrina smiled and gave a small, friendly wave.

"Ahem," interrupted Chloé. "I'm right here!"

"Oh," said Seline, pretending to care. "Hi, Chloé. Nice day we're having, huh?"

Chloé looked like she was about to say something but stopped when she heard the ride starting up.

And off they went...

Seline's eyes took in all the beautiful rock formations as the ride continued, her hands clamped on the lap bar. As her excitement grew, her fingers wrapped tighter and tighter around the plastic of the bar. Taag held tightly onto Seline's pocket, trying to hold in small yelps because of all the unexpected drops. Seline's long black hair kept hitting Chloé in the face as the wind accelerated around them. Chloé grew even more annoyed, huffing at the hair and slapping it away.

Adrien glanced at Seline and smiled. The ride was at its peak, almost heading to the grand finale. Anxiety crept into Seline's stomach, her eyes shut as Adrien looked at her once again. He let out a small chuckle and grabbed Seline's hand.

"You'll be okay," said Adrien.

Seline's first instinct was to headbutt Adrien but she held back, letting her hand settle into his. The drop had arrived and Seline let out a roaring scream. Chloé held on to Sabrina, her screams deafening to everyone on the ride. Sabrina laughed at Chloé as the drop came to an end. Adrien loved the feeling of falling, the wind blowing in his face, the adrenaline pumping through his veins—it was an adventure.

"Please exit on your right," said the rider operator over the intercom, prompting Seline to open her eyes. "Don't forget to collect your belongings. Have a great day!"

"Is it really over?" asked Seline, hopping off the ride once the bar was lifted.

"Yes, it IS over," barked Chloé, sending a death glare in Seline's direction. "We should go to Space Mountain! Come on, Adrien."

"Uh," mumbled Adrien. "I should really get back to my friends, Chloé."

The four of them made their way out of the ride and through the exit. Seline immediately ran to Timothée and Gérard among a crowd of people, leaving Adrien and Chloé alone with Sabrina.

"It was amazing," said Seline excitedly. "You really have to go on with me next time!"

Seline stepped closer to her cousins, whispering to block any sightings of her. Taag flew out of her jacket to look at Seline.

"Seline," said Taag, swaying to and fro. "I think I got motion sickness."

"Oh, Taag," said Seline. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot you were with me. Can I get you anything, like water or something?"

"Well," replied Taag. "Now that you mention it, I'm kind of hungry."

"We'll go get food now, then," said a guilty Seline. "Anything for my little tiger."

Seline gave Taag's little head a gentle scratch.

"Come back in here and we'll be on our way," reassured Seline.

Timothée greeted Taag, finger bumping the feline.

"Food it is, then," said Timothée, loudly enough for all their kwamis to hear.

They had come across one of Disneyland Paris' most famous restaurants, Restaurant des Stars. It was a 1950s style buffet restaurant with old black-and-white pictures of celebrities on the walls. The interior was covered in silver accents that gave it a sterile, retrofuturistic look. Behind the buffet line stood chefs preparing meals for their guests.

When the smell of the food reached their noses, Seline could feel Taag jump around in her pocket.

"Almost there, buddy," giggled Seline.

"What did you say?" said Marinette from behind.

Marinette caught Seline's attention, making her turn around. Timothée and Gérard had stopped, waiting for Seline.

"I told myself, 'almost there, buddy,'" snapped Seline, looking Marinette directly in the eyes. "Is there a problem with me talking to myself? Why are you even following me?"

"Well, I, uh, um," stuttered Marinette. "I got lost, and well, I saw you and your cousins so I thought I could hang around until my friends showed up again but I can't find them."

Marinette hung her head low, expecting rejection. Seline looked back at Timothée, he nodded indicating she could come with them.

"We don't mind," said Timothée, flinging his arm around Marinette's shoulders. "We're getting something to eat."

The group continued walking to the restaurant, making it in time for lunch to start.

Gérard grabbed some fries and a slice of pizza and sat down at a table near the window. Seline followed behind, placing her tray on the table as they waited for Timothée and Marinette to join them.

"We're in a restaurant full of French delicacies and you just get fries and pizza, Gérard?" chuckled Seline, taking a bite from her croque-monsieur.

Gérard nodded and quietly ate his fries, handing a couple to his kwami, Kimba, in his jacket-vest. Marinette and Timothée arrived at the table.

"If you'll excuse me," said Seline as she got up from the table. "I have to powder my nose."

"That's code for—" started Timothée, giggling.

"We all know what that's code for!" interrupted Seline while on her way towards the restroom.

Locking herself in a stall, Taag flew out and Seline handed him a small portion of the burger she hid. Taag had chugged it all at once and nuzzled into Seline's cheek. He whispered a quick "thank you" and flew back into her pocket. A burp came out right as she flushed the toilet.

As she walked out, she once again bumped into a blond-haired person. "Oh, shoot! I'm so sorry."

"Of course," said Chloé's signature nasal voice, her hands laid on her hips with Sabrina in tow. "It's the new girl. What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" snarked Seline, pointing at a stall. "So, if you girls will just excuse me."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" said Chloé, blocking Seline's way. "You're trying to take my Adrikins away from me, just like that Marinette. Is that what the two of you do, plot ways on how to get with Adrien?"

"Chloé," said Seline. "With all due respect… that's what you do. Maybe if you were a little nicer, you wouldn't be having trouble spending time with him."

"Hmph!" exclaimed Chloé. "I have no trouble spending time with MY boyfriend, new girl."

"Whatever you say," said Seline, brushing past Chloé. "I just wonder if he knows that."

Seline walked out of the restroom, leaving Chloé enraged.

"Who does she think she is?!" said Chloé to Sabrina, who just shrugged in return.

Seline rushed to the table, only to find Marinette's friends there with her cousins. She sat down next to Timothée before continuing to eat.

Meanwhile, Chloé and Sabrina were walking around outside of the restaurant.

"And, like, she said I was mean!" said Chloé in the middle of a rant.

"I have no idea where she got that idea from," said Sabrina. "What are you going to—oh! Look!"

A parade full of happy cast members and families was going down the path Chloé and Sabrina were walking on.

"Why are they having fun?" asked Chloé. "Don't they know my heart is hurting?!"

"Can we take pictures with them?" said Sabrina.

Just at that moment, a Mickey Mouse mascot came up to them, bobbing around playfully. He made a gesture mimicking taking a picture on a camera.

"No," snapped Chloé. "I don't want to take a picture! Why don't you go back to Minnie, your perfect girlfriend!"

Mickey's hands drooped to his side and he walked back to the parade, hanging his head in shame.

"Chloé," said Sabrina. "That was really mean!"

"Ugh!" responded Chloé. "I can't care when my Adrikins is having fun with those losers!"

At that moment, a purple butterfly landed on the mascot's head.

Elsewhere, a bright light poured into Papillon's lair, illuminating the room where hundreds of butterflies flitted into the air.

"Meany Mouse," started Papillon. "It's Papillon speaking. I know you've been hurt, insulted… and criminally underpaid. Now take that rage and enact on your thirst for vengeance!"

The newly transformed akuma Meany Mouse just nodded.

"Not the talkative type now, are we? No matter. Go, Meany Mouse! Capture their Miraculouses!"

Chloé had already vanished into the crowd while Meany Mouse was trying to track her down.

An ominous howl traveled through the air in the park, eventually reaching the ears of our heroes. Seline looked at Timothée, a worried expression on her face as she tried to finish eating her burger.

"Maybe it's a ride," suggested Seline. "Or maybe a little kid?"

More blood curdling screams came. Terrified people ran into the restaurant to hide from the akuma. Our heroes got up from their table, giving each other concerned looks—this wasn't any ordinary Disney attraction.

"Everyone," said Timothée to all of the patrons of the restaurant. "Hide! Go hide in the restrooms!"

Marinette was nowhere to be found. Seline, Timothée and Gérard looked at each other.

"What are we going to do?" said Seline. "Marinette disappeared!"

"I think you guys should go without me," said Timothée. "I'll be your alibi. Now, go. There's a closet somewhere. I'll keep an eye out for Marinette and the others if they need help."

Without even having time to think it through, Seline and Gérard rushed to the janitor's closet, making sure no one was in there.

"Ready?" said Gérard, looking at Seline.

"As ready as I can be," replied Seline, flashing a smile that she hoped would hide the fear she felt for Adrien's safety.

"Taag, transforme-moi!" shouted Seline.

"Kimba, transforme-moi!" shouted Gérard.

Alone at the scene of the action was Chat Noir.

"The mouse won't talk," said Chat Noir, leaning on his baton, looking at the akumatized villain from afar. "This is a tough one."

"Hey there, kitty," said a girl's voice. Chat Noir turned around with a grin, only to see it was Tigresse Blanche with Lion. "I see you're hunting that mouse. Where's the bug?"

"If only I knew," mumbled Chat Noir, looking around and hoping to see Ladybug swing in.

"You can wait if you like but I'm taking action," said Tigresse Blanche.

She wasted no time and ran towards the mascot while Lion got into a sneak attack formation behind him. She lunged towards Meany Mouse.

"No, wait!" said Lion.

But it was too late—Tigresse Blanche's foot already connected with Meany Mouse's chest, kicking hard enough to push him across the street right next to Lion. Meany Mouse got up and grabbed Lion by the shoulders, staring straight into his face.

"Lion!" called Tigresse Blanche, sprinting to get Lion out of Meany Mouse's grasp only to get knocked down by a newcomer to the fight. "Ladybug! What do you think you're—?"

"Hold on," warned Ladybug, lifting her hand up to Tigresse Blanche's face.

Tigresse Blanche's blood started to boil, her hands curling up into fists at her sides. Over on the other side of the street, Meany Mouse's face warped into a swirl, hypnotizing Lion so that he would do the mouse's bidding.

"Hold on?" repeated Tigresse Blanche, pushing Ladybug's hand away. "You want me to wait? We were waiting for you this whole time. You're either here or you're not, and now you're getting in my way and letting our teammate get attacked by the yokai!? You really need to improve your skills because you're making all our jobs harder than they already are!"

"Hey!" barked Ladybug. "First of all it's an akuma, not a yokai, and secondly I was stopping you from diving head first into a villain you knew nothing about! You didn't even know what his power was! I saved you from getting hypnotized like your friend over there!"

"I don't need to be saved by a little kid playing dress-up!" yelled Tigresse Blanche. "Work on your timing and know your role, LB. I know Master Fu trusts you, but I don't."

Tigresse Blanche glared at Ladybug and Chat Noir. She frantically ran to find the akumatized victim and Lion.

"Stupid child," thought Seline to herself.

Her mask felt very tight against her skin. Maybe she was just imagining it but she felt like she couldn't breathe properly. Chat Noir finally caught up with Tigresse Blanche and stood in her way.

"Excuse me," said Tigresse Blanche. "I have to clean up her mess."

"Listen," started Chat Noir. "What you said to Ladybug wasn't right. We're supposed to help each other."

"Help each other?" scoffed Tigresse Blanche. "That bug stopped me from finishing off the villain! Now Lion's in danger because of her! I'm sure you would've said the same if I had gotten her hypnotized."

Tigresse Blanche pushed past Chat Noir, only to hear screams from the other side of the park. Her tiger-like ears perked up, trying to locate where exactly the screams were coming from.

She saw Ladybug fling herself towards the castle. Tigresse Blanche followed suit and felt sick to her stomach once she saw Lion marching next to Meany Mouse, a whole army of hypnotized tourists behind them. Meany Mouse's face looked scary in a sense. His smile was no longer friendly, it was haunting.

"L-Lion…?" whispered Tigresse Blanche, standing next to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Lion's smile was very visible, just like the one sported by the hypnotized tourists. The corners of their mouths curved up to their eyes to mimic Meany Mouse's unnerving smile—her cousin didn't look the same anymore.

"This..." started a bewildered Tigresse Blanche. "This was your fault."

"If it weren't for me, you would be there with him," rebutted Ladybug.

"We have no time for this," said Tigresse Blanche. "Let's just focus on the akuma. I'll take care of Lion and you and Chat Noir can get Meany."

"I was going to do that anyway," said Ladybug.

Tigresse Blanche ran to face off against Lion while Ladybug and Chat Noir hopped onto the spires of the iconic castle.

"You have to remember that these are innocent people on vacation," reminded Ladybug. "Try not to hurt them as you get to Meany Mouse."

"You got it, my lady," said Chat Noir.

Chat Noir and Ladybug jumped down into the fray. Meany Mouse heard them land and sicced his minions on them. Ladybug and Chat Noir immediately got swamped by the dozens of hypnotized tourists crowding them. They tried their best to deflect the poor victims but they were vastly outnumbered. Near the front of the crowd was Lion facing off against Tigresse Blanche.

"I'm so sorry, Lion," said Tigresse Blanche. "I don't want to fight you but I have no choice."

The two cousins engaged in a feral cat fight. Lion swung his brass knuckled fists at Tigresse Blanche's face. She blocked each swing but took a kick to her side, falling to the ground.

"Oof! What's the hold up?" asked Tigresse Blanche.

"There are too many of them!" said Ladybug. "We need to stop them somehow!"

Lion punched Tigresse Blanche's arm. The brass knuckle left a stinging sensation.

"Ow!" said Tigresse Blanche. "Okay, that's it. Chat Noir, Ladybug—get out of here! I'm going to do something big."

Ladybug flung a tourist grasping at her earrings to the side and grabbed Chat Noir. She yo-yoed the both of them up to a nearby tree.

"Magie noire!" shouted Tigresse Blanche.

Tigresse Blanche reached for the sky, a black orb enveloping her hand. She grabbed at the air inside and pull it down hard. A similar looking orb enveloped the crowd and the gravity inside increased multiple times. The force pulled all of them flat against the ground.

"Hurry," said Tigresse Blanche. "It won't last long."

"Chat Noir," said Ladybug. "I think the mascot's head is the akumatized object."

"Then I'll just walk on over and destroy it with my power," said Chat Noir. He dropped down from the tree and ran up towards Meany Mouse. "Cataclysme!"

Unstable energy formed in his hand. Just as he was about to press it against the mascot's head, he heard Ladybug.

"Wait!" said Ladybug. "Not in front of the kids!"

Ladybug pointed at some stores with scared children looking on from within.

"Really?" said Chat Noir.

"Don't worry," said Ladybug. "I have an idea."

She swung away toward the rides.

"She's making us wait yet again?" said Seline, struggling to keep her hold on the crowd.

Ladybug eyed the rides from the rooftops. She found a tarp covering the better part of a ride that had yet to be built. She lassoed it with her yo-yo and returned to the castle with it. She tied one end of the tarp to a tree, swung to another tree and tied that end there. The scene was successfully shielded from innocent eyes.

"Okay," said Ladybug. "Do it now!"

Chat Noir finally pressed his hand against the head of the mascot. The head cracked and withered away leaving behind the worker's own head and a purple black butterfly. Ladybug rushed to take her stance.

"I'm freeing you from evil!" Ladybug used her yoyo to purify the butterfly. "Je t'ai eu! Bye-bye, petit papillon."

The dark butterfly turned into a white and pure butterfly, flying high above her head.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" yelled Ladybug, the whole park changing back to its former magical self.

"Oh my gosh," said Tigresse Blanche, embracing Lion. "I'm so sorry. I tried saving you but someone pushed me and well…"

"It's okay," reassured Lion. "Really, it's okay."

Tigresse Blanche let go and turned to face the other two heroes.

"All of this could have been avoided if you stayed out of my way, little bug," hissed Tigresse Blanche.

"You're still blaming me for this?" said Ladybug. "You keep telling me I'm not experienced enough for this but you're the one who keeps charging into danger without a plan."

"Don't you dare criticize my technique," retorted Tigresse Blanche as her choker beeped.

"Please stop yelling," said Lion. "That hypnotism gave me a migraine."

"Tigresse Blanche," said Chat Noir. "You really need to calm down. Duking it out in front of all these people is not helping anyone."

"Well, suck it up," growled Tigresse Blanche, pointing at Ladybug. "We all could've lost our Miraculouses, Chat Noir. If she hadn't pushed me, we wouldn't have lost Lion to begin with."

"I don't know if you remember this but you were the one who kicked Meany Mouse at Lion," said Chat Noir sternly. "You are just as responsible as she is."

"She stopped me from saving my teammate," said Tigresse Blanche as she stepped up to Chat Noir. "I'm just saying our actions have consequences. Let's go, Lion."

Tigresse Blanche and Lion sprinted away out of sight.

Later that night, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, Chloé, Sabrina, Seline and her cousins were walking past the castle after an exciting day at all the attractions.

Marinette stayed quiet for most of the night, standing behind the group and thinking over what Tigresse Blanche had told her. She had never met someone who was so stubborn. She let out a sigh.

"Hey," said Timothée, feigning ignorance. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Marinette, something clearly on her mind.

"C'mon," said Timothée. "You can tell me. I won't bite."

"Well," confessed Marinette. "I have to work with someone who just refuses to cooperate. It can be so… frustrating."

Timothée just nodded, understanding her dilemma. Marinette dropped the subject, catching up to the group.

"Hey, look," said Alya, pointing up at the sky. "The fireworks are starting!"

Sleeping Beauty's castle lit up in a kaleidoscopic vision of various Disney films while above in the sky were multi-hued fireworks creating a giant light show for the kids. On the castle steps, Mickey and Minnie reunited in front of everyone, making the crowd erupt in applause.

"It's so beautiful," said Marinette.

Our heroes looked on in awe as they felt the stress of the day melt away seeing Mickey and Minnie have their fairytale ending.


	4. Super Seiyuu

Summary: **Adrien's nationwide fragrance commercial takes Paris by storm, and when Chloé angers a retail clerk, the akuma Super Seiyuu is born.**

* * *

It was just another beautiful morning in France when Marinette was holed up in her room underneath the covers, completely absorbed by something on her phone. A video was playing, trendy music in the background and a perky voice telling the viewers:

"Radiant. Carefree. Dreamy. Adrien, the fragrance."

The final shot was a still image of none other than Adrien Agreste mid-jump, basking in the glow of his new scent. Marinette squealed into her pillow, stirring Tikki awake.

"How many times are you going to watch that commercial?" asked Tikki, rubbing her tired eyes.

"As many times as it takes for my heart to start beating again," swooned Marinette.

"Hopefully that'll be by breakfast," mumbled Tikki.

Marinette's phone started ringing. Marinette answered, Alya appearing on her screen.

"Hey, Marinette," said Alya. "Why is it so dark there?"

Marinette came out from under the covers, trying hard not to act suspicious.

"No reason," lied Marinette.

"What were you doing that you needed to hide?" inquired Alya.

"Nothing," said Marinette.

Suddenly, the commercial for the fragrance started playing loudly in the background.

"Are you STILL watching that commercial?" chuckled Alya. "It's been a week!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Marinette, flustered. "Well, why'd you call me? What's going on in your life? Are you up to anything today?"

"Whoa, girl," said Alya. "Slow down."

Marinette took a deep breath, gathering herself.

"Since you've been watching that video all morning…" teased Alya.

"I have not!" protested Marinette.

"Why don't we just meet up at school?" offered Alya. "I've got to introduce you to someone. See you then!"

There was a sinister gleam in Alya's eye right before she hung up the phone, the look she always had when she was about to surprise Marinette.

"Introduce me to someone," thought Marinette. "Who could it be?"

Marinette went about her daily routine: taking a shower, getting dressed, making sure her bag had all her school supplies, and that Tikki was stowed somewhere on her person unseen.

"Bye mom, bye dad," said Marinette as she walked down the stairs.

"Aren't you gonna stay for breakfast?" asked Marinette's father, Tom.

"Sorry, guys" replied Marinette. "I'm gonna be late!"

"Have a great day at school," said Marinette's mother, Sabine.

Marinette's parents watched as she dashed out the door and into the streets, running to get to school with the thought of Alya's surprise still on her mind.

After some distance, she finally arrived on campus, searching for Alya and this mysterious person.

"Hey," called Alya from the front steps. There was a curly-haired boy using his phone while sitting on the railing facing away from Marinette. "We're over here."

"Hey," said Marinette. "Who is this?"

Marinette noticed the boy looked familiar—very familiar. He put his phone away and turned around dramatically to reveal that he was none other than Gérard.

"Alya," said Marinette. "I've already met Gérard. We were all at Disney together!"

"Yeah," said Alya. "But he asked me if he could hang out with us today."

Marinette squinted at Gérard inquisitively. What was he up to?

"I just wanted to get to know you guys better," said Gérard with a charming smile. "I know Seline and Timothée haven't been the most friendly with you guys, and I wanted to make up for that."

"Oh," said Marinette, still uneasy about this whole thing. "Well, I'd be glad to call you a friend of mine."

Marinette stretched out her hand and Gérard returned the gesture, shaking hands firmly.

"It means the world to me," said Gérard.

"Come on, guys," said Alya, pulling the two of them by the arms. "We should go to breakfast before all the croissants are gone."

Alya and Gérard chuckled, Marinette trying to stop herself from smiling too much to keep her poker face on. The three of them walked by a couple of bushes, completely oblivious to the pair of binoculars sticking out of them.

"What's your 'plan' again?" asked a skeptical Taag from behind Seline's ear who was watching Marinette intently with said binoculars.

"It's quite simple," said Seline. "We infiltrate Marinette's inner circle, form cracks in all her relationships, and then expose her crush on Adrien."

"That seems pretty pointless," said Taag. "Everyone already knows."

"Yes," said Seline. "But she'd be embarrassed, so we have to do it."

Seline smiled at Taag mischievously as the little kwami just shook his head in disapproval.

Meanwhile, Timothée and Adrien walked up to the Agreste home. As Adrien opened the door to the mansion, Timothée's eyes widened to take it all in.

"This place is amazing," said Timothée.

"Oh," said Adrien. "It's nothing."

"I'm sure it's been something after the commercial," teased Timothée. "Isn't that right, Mr. Fragrance?"

Adrien averted his gaze in embarrassment. Knowing that all of France was seeing his silly commercial over and over again has bothered him all week.

"Don't remind me," said Adrien, blushing. "It's so embarrassing."

Adrien led the way up the staircase, Timothée amazed by the architecture and the butlers and other workers around the house.

"You have servants?!" said Timothée.

"You act like you've never been at anyone's house before," said Adrien.

"This is not a house," started Timothée, spreading his arms wide as his voice carried throughout the mansion. "This is a castle!"

Without warning, an intimidating blond man walked by: Gabriel Agreste, the renowned fashion designer. Timothée was struck by his presence.

"Who is this?" asked Gabriel of his son.

"This is Timothée," explained Adrien. "He's my new friend."

"I hope he isn't as troublesome as some of the others you've brought here," said Gabriel.

Adrien rolled his eyes, clearly agitated. The relationship between father and son Agreste clearly wasn't… the best.

"Thanks for giving my new friend the welcoming invitation," snarked Adrien. "Come on, Timothée."

"Nice to meet you," said Timothée. Gabriel ignored him, with only the expression of smelling something foul forming across his face.

Adrien ushered Timothée to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. The room was larger than it needed to be and full of everything a teenage boy would love:

Several arcade cabinets lined a wall next to a glass spiral staircase that led up to a massive home library. There was a foosball table, a basketball hoop, a rock climbing wall that led to the second floor, a zip line, a state of the art computer with three screens below a giant screen television. The fourth wall was a giant window that contained nothing but a television.

"This is your room?!" shrieked Timothée.

"Sorry but could you try to keep it down?" said Adrien.

'"Yeah, sure… um, was that your dad?" asked Timothée.

"Yeah," said Adrien. "Why?"

"I'm not one to judge," said Timothée. "But he didn't seem very fatherly. Actually, he almost seemed like a stranger."

"He is a stranger," said Adrien. "I know next to nothing about him. He doesn't care about me unless I'm making him money..."

"Okay," interrupted Timothée. "This conversation got really dark. Let's take our minds off things by doing something fun."

"Yeah," said Adrien. "I just have to go wash up. You can play video games while you wait."

"Okay," said Timothée.

Adrien walked over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He turned the faucet on, splashing water on his face. He felt something pop out of his pocket.

"Who does he think he is?" said the tiny black cat kwami, Plagg, whizzing by Adrien's ear.

"It's fine," said Adrien. "He was just pointing out the obvious."

"I don't trust that boy," warned Plagg. "He and the other two have been suspicious ever since they got here."

"Mind your own business, Plagg," said Adrien.

"Okay," said the little kwami, floating back into Adrien's pocket. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Adrien walked back to his room, joining Timothée as he sat in front of the TV.

"What ya playing," asked Adrien.

"Just playing some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," said Timothée. The two of them smiled, Adrien grabbing himself a controller. A set of binoculars started to peek out of Adrien's closet.

"H-How did you even get in here?" asked a shocked Taag as Seline stared at Adrien. "Weren't we just at school?"

"Having tiger powers has given me mastery of stealth," said Seline confidently. "Now shush while I'm gathering intel."

She felt her phone vibrate and checked to see what it was.

"Oh!" whispered Seline. "It's a video from my favorite internet personality. They're going to watch videos of me taking down the akuma from Disneyland Paris. Let's see what they have to say."

At school, Marinette was still hanging out with Alya and her new… friend(?) Gérard.

"I don't wanna call anyone out," started Alya. "But someone's been watching that new Adrien commercial nonstop."

"Alya!" said Gérard, mocking outrage. "How dare you expose Marinette?!"

"Keep it down," hissed Marinette, placing her hand over Gérard's mouth. "People might hear you."

Marinette looked over to her classmates to make sure no one could hear their conversation, and luckily, they were just eating lunch none the wiser.

"We ALL know," said Alya. "Why don't you just be more radiant?"

"Or carefree?" said Gérard.

"Or dreeeeeeeeamy," said Alya and Gérard in unison, bursting out laughing.

Marinette just sank into her seat and slid underneath the table, completely mortified. Tikki flew out of her bag.

"Are you just going to let them bully you like that?" said a defiant Tikki.

"They're not bullying, Tikki," said Marinette, understandably self-conscious. "They're just teasing."

"It's still mean!" said Tikki.

"Are you talking to yourself, Marinette?" asked Gérard.

Tikki disappeared into Marinette's bag before Gérard poked his head under the table. Marinette laughed nervously, propping herself back up on her seat. The bell for homeroom rang and all the students in the cafeteria started to make their way out.

"Anyway," said Alya. "This was fun, Gérard. We'll talk to you later."

"It was great talking to you guys," said Gérard with that charming smile of his. "See you later, Madame Agreste."

Marinette screamed internally, completely paralyzed by those two words. Madame Agreste had a nice ring to it, she thought...

From afar, Chloé and Sabrina watched Marinette as she followed Alya on the way to their classroom.

"So first that Seline girl tries to take my boyfriend," sighed Chloé. "And now that Gérard is trying to take my arch nemesis?!"

"Are you sure that's what they're doing?" said Sabrina, scratching her head in thought. "Not everyone is out to get you."

"Why don't you understand me, Sabrina?" said Chloé. "I feel like you'd rather be friends with someone else, like that Seline girl."

Sabrina didn't say anything, her silence betraying her true feelings. The expression on Chloé's face turned from amused to enraged.

"Sabrina," yelled Chloé. "How dare you?!"

"I didn't say anything," said Sabrina, panicking.

Chloé let out a high-pitched grunt as she ran towards the exit. She sped through the halls and out of school entirely. She ended up at a plaza in the middle of Paris.

"I need a little retail therapy," said Chloé, smiling as she pulled out her father's weighted, metallic credit card. "Now, where to shop?"

A perfume store was right within her sights. Chloé pulled the doors open, a burst of cool, conditioned air welcoming her in. Flowery scents filled the air, but those weren't the ones she cared about: the fragrance she cared about was by someone she knew.

She spotted all of the slick, shiny posters for Adrien's new fragrance sprawled throughout the store. This was just what Chloé needed, to feel close to her "one true love." She pressed her face against the glass box containing multiple vials of Adrien, the fragrance.

"How can I help you?" asked a voice from behind the counter.

Chloé looked up to see a young, preppy woman with auburn hair dressed in a cardigan and a pencil skirt.

"Do I know you?" said Chloé.

"I'm Agnès," she replied. "You may have heard my voice before. I recorded the voiceover for the commercial starring Adrien Agreste!"

"Then why are you working here?" asked Chloé.

"Voice acting doesn't pay that well and I got the part mostly as a favor," answered Agnès bashfully.

"Whatever," said Chloé. "Just give me five bottles of the fragrance and I'll be on my way, thank you."

Chloé slapped her father's credit card on the glass counter, the sound taking Agnès by surprise.

"That's over 500 euro!" gasped Agnès.

"And what?" said Chloé, silently daring Agnès to continue pestering her.

"I…" started Agnès, swiping the credit card on her register. "My monitor says you need an ID for this transaction to go through."

"Just give it to me," whined Chloé.

"I'm sorry," said Agnès. "I can't."

"Fine!" screamed Chloé, snatching the credit card from Agnès' hand. "We'll see how great friends you are with the Agreste family after I tell my boyfriend, Adrien Agreste, about your horrible service!"

Chloé walked out, slamming the door behind her. Agnès stared wistfully at the vials of perfume on display, fearful of Chloé's threat.

The window to Papillon's lair opened like the shutter of a camera, enveloping the room in a blinding light.

"Customer service is a nightmare," started Papillon. "The old adage 'the customer is always right' has always led to destructive behavior, and, in turn, fostered negative emotions."

A butterfly landed on Papillon's open palm, changing from pure white to purple-black.

"Fly away my little akuma and help that woman reclaim her dignity," commanded Papillon.

The butterfly landed on Agnès' collar microphone, Papillon's insignia burning across her face.

"My name is Papillon," he said. "What you just suffered is beyond impolite: it was downright cruel. If voiceover is your passion then announce yourself to the world, Super Seiyuu!"

"At your service, Papillon," said Agnès, transforming into the akuma Super Seiyuu. Her costume resembled a flight attendant's uniform: a red button down jacket with a matching miniskirt. She had a speaker on each shoulder, and clamped onto her collar was the tiny, akumatized microphone.

Super Seiyuu walked out of the store and came across a brunette woman she recognized.

"Lise," said Super Seiyuu. "You are stylish and vivacious. A woman with confidence and conviction. You are Everywoman, the fragrance by Lise."

Lise initially felt flattered but flattery turned into panic as she noticed a purple smoke emanating from the floor, enveloping her. Around that smoke, glass started to materialize until eventually she was trapped inside a human-sized perfume bottle.

Lise began pounding against her perfume bottle but could not escape. Super Seiyuu continued walking to find her intended target—Chloé.

Back at school Marinette got a notification on her phone. She checked it and saw that an akuma was rampaging in the mall.

"Gotta go, guys," said Marinette, excusing herself and leaving Alya and Gérard confused.

Similarly, over at Adrien's house, the TV was interrupted by the news of the akuma rampaging through the mall.

"Uh, I gotta go to the shower," said Adrien, excusing himself. "I know there's a shower in here, but it's under construction and I have to go to the other one. Bye!"

Adrien disappeared before Timothée could even think to say anything to question him.

"Guess that's our cue," said Timothée, making sure the coast was clear. "Monsieur Pussycat, I choose you!"

Just then, Timothée's chubby, little leopard kwami popped out of his backpack.

"I do hate when you talk to me like a… Pocket-Mon is it?" said Monsieur Pussycat, speaking with his signature grandiose, theatrical affectation. "Whatever will I do with you?"

"I guess you could..." thought Timothée aloud, looking up. "Transforme-moi!"

"Not this again," groaned Monsieur Pussycat, being absorbed into Timothée's rosary so that he transformed into Léopard.

Inside the closet, Seline and Taag shared a pair of earbuds and finished watching the video.

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" asked Seline, distraught over the criticism she received.

"Think of it like this," offered Taag. "You can learn from this to be better in the future."

"I guess you're right," said Seline. "Hey, where'd they go?"

Just as Seline noticed the boys were gone she saw a headline on her phone warning citizens about a supervillain trapping people in perfume bottles.

"Are you ready Taag?" said Seline.

"Of course!" said Taag

Back at the plaza, shops were adorned with human-sized perfume bottles. Super Seiyuu was calmly strutting through the horrified crowd as Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped by.

"Ladybug," announced Super Seiyuu. "You are adventurous. You are sweet but have an edge, a dash of danger. You are Dauntless, the perfume by Ladybug."

Ladybug braced herself for whatever would happen, but to her surprise, nothing did.

"No!" barked Papillon in Super Seiyuu's head. "Her real name isn't Ladybug. Her true identity is a secret. Go get a hostage and use them to get their Miraculouses!"

"Why didn't anything happen?" said Ladybug, dumbfounded. "I think that means I'm immune to her power."

"Maybe it's because Ladybug isn't your real name," said Chat Noir. "We can use that to our advantage. Besides, how many people's names could she know?"

"A lot," said Ladybug. "I know her. She works at the perfume store and remembers every customer's name. Her name is Agnès."

"Agnès," said Chat Noir. "I know her, too."

"Then we have to turn her back to normal before long," said Tigresse Blanche.

As she ran into the plaza with Léopard, she pulled Ladybug off to the side to speak privately.

"Ladybug, listen," she started. "I watched our fight with Meany Mouse back in Disneyland Paris."

"Are you still not over that?" complained Ladybug. "We're kind of in the middle of something!"

"Let me finish," shot back Tigresse Blanche. "Anyway, no, that's not what this is about. I saw that I was in fact going to get hypnotized if I charged at Meany, so I want to say… sorry. You were… right."

"Wow," said Ladybug, taken aback. "That's actually really nice of you."

"Don't get sappy on me," said Tigresse Blanche. "Let's get back to the akuma."

As the four heroes followed Super Seiyuu into a clothing shop, they got lost amidst all the perfume bottles with frightened, innocent customers inside.

"It's like a hall of mirrors," said Léopard.

"She's got to be around here somewhere," said Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo high into the air. It transformed into a pair of scissors.

"Let's see what I can do with this," she thought aloud, looking to her surroundings for some clues, but all she could see were trapped civilians. "I don't see any use for this now. Maybe it will come in handy later."

In another part of the hoard of perfume bottles was an exasperated Léopard searching for any sign of the villain. He saw Super Seiyuu at the other end of the shop.

"You," called Léopard. "Stop right there!"

He ran at her at full speed and knocked himself into a perfume bottle. It was just Super Seiyuu's reflection he had seen.

"I guess you've left me no choice," warned Léopard, revving up to use his superpower. "Cœur de glace!"

He summoned large icicles which hailed down, pooling into frozen patches on the floor. Super Seiyuu slipped on the ice and slid right towards the closed door. From here, Super Seiyuu spotted Chloé hiding behind a rack of clothes.

"There she is!" yelled Super Seiyuu.

Without thought, she lunged at Chloé, carrying her outside. The superheroes gave chase and saw her jump to the rooftop with Chloé as a hostage.

"Chloé," announced Super Seiyuu. "Obnoxious and self-centered. You care only about yourself because no one else can. Unbearable, the essence of Chloé."

"Hey, I resent that statement," said Chloé as she became encapsulated in a perfume bottle.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir," called Super Seiyuu. "Give me your Miraculouses or else I will break her into a million peices!"

"Don't let her do it!" screamed Chloé.

"What do we do, Ladybug?" asked Léopard, looking to her for leadership.

"Go into the mattress store, get a bunch of mattresses and set them underneath Chloé," she whispered back. "But stay out of Super Seiyuu's sight. I have an idea."

Offering herself as a distraction, Ladybug turned towards Super Seiyuu.

"You've backed me into a corner," lied Ladybug. "I have no choice but to give up my Miraculous under one condition. I will gladly give you my Miraculous, but only if you let my friends go."

"I'll allow it," said Papillon in the akuma's head. "The Ladybug Miraculous on its own has more than enough power for me."

"It's a deal," said Super Seiyuu.

Ladybug swung onto the rooftop and approached Super Seiyuu cautiously.

"Ladybug!" gushed Chloé. "You've come to save me! I knew you would—"

Ladybug interrupted Chloé by kicking her perfume bottle down to the ground far below.

"What are you doing!" shrieked Super Seiyuu.

At that moment, Ladybug swiped at the villain's collar microphone with her scissors, severing it from the collar and turning it into a purple black butterfly.

"Je t'ai eu," said Ladybug, with a big smile on her face as she saw the newly pure butterfly take flight. "Bye-bye, petit papillon! Miraculous Ladybug!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air above leading a wave of healing to rush over the plaza, freeing all the customers from their perfume prisons and turning Super Seiyuu back into Agnès.

Down on the ground lay Chloé on a stack of mattresses that cushioned her fall. Ladybug grabbed Agnès and gently lowered the both of them off of the rooftop with her yo-yo. Chat Noir walked up to Ladybug.

"You did it, my lady," said Chat Noir, holding hands with Ladybug.

"Gross!" said both Tigresse Blanche and Léopard.

"We all did it together," said Ladybug. "Right, Tigresse Blanche?"

"You're much better at being diplomatic than I am," said Tigresse Blanche. "I'll give you that much, little bug."

"I'll take it!" said Ladybug.

Tigresse Blanche started to turn away while Léopard walked over to Ladybug with an excited look on his face.

"I think she's beginning to like you," said Léopard. "She never even compliments me or Lion!"

"Thanks, Léopard," chuckled Ladybug.

Léopard saw Chat Noir, noticing he looked like he wanted some privacy with Ladybug.

"I can take a hint," said Léopard. "We'll see you two later, lovebugs!"

Léopard caught up with Tigresse Blanche, leaving Ladybug and Chat Noir blushing.

"Well," started Ladybug. "I've gotta go."

"Uh, me too," said Chat Noir.

"Okay, well," said Ladybug. "I guess we'll see each other later."

Chat Noir bowed chivalrously, putting a smile Ladybug's face.

"Until we meet again, my lady," said Chat Noir.

"You're so cheesy," said Ladybug, rolling her eyes.

"But you love it," said Chat Noir.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Ladybug, blushing. "I'm out."

As Ladybug swung away, Chat Noir hid behind a corner and de-transformed into Adrien. He came back around to enter the perfume shop where Agnès resettled herself.

"Hi, Agnès," said Adrien.

"Oh," said a startled Agnès. "Hello, Adrien. Did you come to see your products on display?"

"Actually, I came to see you," clarified Adrien.

"Really?" said Agnès. "Is it because I got akumatized? I'm very sorry. I hope I didn't tarnish the brand."

"Of course not," said Adrien. "I'm here because my father and I contacted several prestigious voice acting agencies to help you get more roles. They were more than happy to accept an audition from you."

"You did all that for me?" said Agnès. "How could I ever repay you?"

"You already did," said Adrien. "Our financial consultants said your voice acting was a huge contributor to the ad's success. Take the offer. We're all rooting for you!"

"Oh, thank you," said Agnès. "This has been my dream for years and now I can finally put all my energy into my passion!"

"I'm happy to hear that," smiled Adrien, happy he could help a family friend.

Later that night, some of the friends—Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Gérard, and Timothée—went to a bowling alley for some well-deserved stress relief.

"Hey," said Marinette to Gérard. "Why isn't Seline here? Is she busy?"

"Oh, I guess you could say she's busy," replied Gérard, pointing at an aisle at the other side of the alley.

Marinette felt a pit in her stomach as she saw Seline playing a game of bowling with Chloé and Sabrina.

"What?!" blurted Marinette.

"You heard?" asked Timothée. "Turns out Seline and Chloé have a lot more in common than they thought.

"That... totally terrifies me," groaned Marinette.

"So," started Seline, playing away at her own aisle. She prepared to throw her bowling ball down the lane. "How are we going to take Marinette down?"

"I have a couple of plans," said Chloé, her face contorting into the most wicked smile she had ever made. "But first… Sabrina, get us some pizza!"

Seline released her bowling ball, making the pins fly in every direction—a perfect strike.


	5. Labyrinthe

Author's note: It has officially been a month of writing this story and we just wanted to thank everyone who has read, commented, and favorited this story! It's been a wild ride so far and we are excited to continue to write Miraculous Tails as well as some of our other new projects. One of these projects is actually the first Miraculous crossover with the indie video game CrossCode, and the second CrossCode fic on the site overall! We were going to announce when you could read it, but we preferred just letting you read it for yourself... right now! It's called "A CrossWorlds: A Miraculous Short Story." Thanks again everyone, and now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Summary: **Marinette and friends enlist in what is supposed to be a cool bootcamp that turns into a frightening maze when the instructor becomes the akuma Labyrinthe, testing the heroes' skills and alliance like never before.**

At the tail end of summer, the sun was beating down on the pavement. School was finally back in session and all the students were leisurely slipping back into the school routine.

All except for one.

Seline's plot was a simple one. Openly flirt with Marinette's love interest? Check. Befriend Marinette's worst enemy? Check. Make Marinette jealous enough to embarrass herself? Still a work in progress… but not for long.

At school, all of the students were making their way through the halls, socializing with friends. Seline couldn't help but hear everyone talking about extracurricular activities. She also heard Adrien talking to Timothée from across the hall.

"Have you been thinking about joining any teams, Timothée?" said Adrien.

"Actually, I've been thinking about joining the soccer team," replied Timothée, giving Seline a secret nod signal to make sure she was listening. Seline returned the gesture.

"Soccer?" chuckled Adrien. "You mean football?"

"I forgot that's what we call it here," said Timothée, blushing. "I just heard that word a lot when I was studying abroad in America."

"That's fine," said Adrien, giving Timothée a pat on the shoulder. "I just think it's funny Americans call it that. Oh, look."

Adrien spotted Seline standing in front of the bulletin board as she was reading intently. Timothée took the cue and walked over to Seline. Her attention was solely on Adrien with his hair perfectly coiffed and eyes as green as emeralds.

"Hey, cuz," said Timothée. "Have you been thinking about joining a team, like cheerleading?"

"Cheerleading?" scoffed Seline. "You know I would never do something like that—oh, hi, Adrien."

"Hi," said Adrien with a nervous chuckle. "Uh, if you're looking for a club to join I know that Marinette is the head of the dance team. You could talk to her to learn more about it."

"Really?" said Seline, trying to suppress a smile. "In that case, maybe I'm more into those kinds of sports than I thought. I'm in."

"I could take you to the gymnasium," offered Adrien, with that signature innocent charm.

"You would be my hero," said Seline, playfully intertwining arms with Adrien.

"Am I invisible?" said Timothée.

"You can come along if you want," said Adrien.

"Nah," said Timothée. "I was just kidding. I have something to do right now anyway."

"Great," said Seline. "We'll see you later."

At the gymnasium were Marinette, Alya and Gérard seated behind a cafeteria table that doubled as a judges' table. Before them was Sabrina performing a clumsily choreographed number to "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears, complete with a shiny, red jumpsuit. She performed a split come the last chord of the song.

"I, uh," started Marinette.

"W-We don't," stammered Alya.

"It's a no from me," said Gérard plainly. Marinette and Alya shot him a scolding look. "Sorry. We're trying to make a troupe with the best dancers in the school and that was… not exactly the type of talent we want."

"It's okay," said Sabrina, trying to hide her disappointment. "Thanks for the opportunity, guys!"

Sabrina picked herself up off the floor, defeated. She started walking off, adjusting her uncomfortable jumpsuit.

"We'll keep in touch!" said Marinette, trying to cheer her up.

"You're too nice, Marinette," said Gérard. "The dance world can be a little harsh sometimes but it's only because we deserve the very best. I learned that from Robin Antin."

"There's nothing wrong with being a little polite," replied Marinette.

"Oh," said Alya, diverting the attention onto Seline making her way to the main floor. "Hi, Seline!"

Seline waved goodbye to Adrien before strutting towards the judges' table. Marinette noticed the way Adrien looked at Seline. Have they always been so friendly?

"Nice to see you," said Seline, giving Alya a genuine smile. "It looks like you guys have seen Gérard's moves already."

"Yeah," said Alya. "He's pretty great for someone who's never had any lessons before."

"It's all simple muscle memory," explained Gérard. "Actually, Seline taught me how to do this next dance."

"All right then," remarked Marinette. "Show us what you got, Seline!"

"Hey, Google," commanded Seline of the small Google Home resting on the judges' table. "Play 'DDU-DU DDU-DU' by Blackpink."

The second the music came on, Seline lit up the floor. The first couple of bars blared through the speakers. Seline was completely in sync with every snap, every move, and every intricacy that the song demanded. By the end of the song, Seline struck a victorious pose.

Alya's and Marinette's jaws dropped as they turned their heads toward Gérard who merely shrugged.

"I told you she was good," he told them.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Alya. "We have to do that song for the performance. Who sings it, again?"

"They're a K-pop girl group named Blackpink," said Seline. "But yeah, I've learned the choreo for every member, so if I join this dance troupe I'll teach you guys in no time."

"That's great," said Marinette. "I guess there's room for more than just one captain."

"Oh, don't worry, Marinette," smirked Seline. "There's no competition here."

Marinette's eyes narrowed, annoyed by Seline's brazen arrogance. Was that an insult she just said?

"Hellooooo!" said Chloé in a singsong voice as she ceremoniously burst through the doors. "I heard there was an opening for a new member on the dance team. Where do I apply?"

"Sorry, Chloé," said Marinette. "We just found our newest member."

"Who would—oh!" replied Chloé. "It's you, Seline?"

"Yup," she said.

"Well, in that case," said Chloé, walking up to Seline and doing their own secret handshake. "I'll be your number one fan!"

Marinette tilted her head. Did Chloé just say something… nice?

"We'll start practice on Wednesday, everybody," said Alya. "Can't wait to see you then!"

Alya and Gérard began to leave the room together, trying to stifle their mischievous laughter.

"Did you see the look on Marinette's face?" asked Gérard.

"I know," chuckled Alya. "It looked like she was about to have a heart attack when she heard Chloé being anything other than a monster."

Later in the afternoon, Seline giddily recounted her audition with a group of friends in the hallway.

Marinette watched this happening from several lockers away. Tikki zipped out of her bag and into her locker.

"Why did that girl become so popular all of a sudden?" asked Tikki.

"I don't know," said Marinette. "Maybe she's just really good at talking to people, but it's weird how so few people have anything bad to say about her, especially Chloé."

"That just isn't normal," responded Tikki.

"What is it about her?" wondered Marinette. "I feel like she's competing against me."

"Well, I think she can—" started Tikki before Marinette slammed her locker door closed, trapping the kwami inside.

"Oh, hi, Adrien!" said Marinette.

She tried acting as cool as she could considering her kwami was almost seen. Adrien walked up to Marinette with Timothée by his side.

"Hey, Marinette," said Adrien. "You know my friend Timothée, right?"

"Yup," she replied, giving Timothée a friendly smile. "We hung out at bowling. How have you been?"

"I've been good," said Timothée. "Even better after hearing Seline got into the dance team."

"Oh," said Marinette, trying to hide her disappointment. "Yeah. Great."

"So," interjected Adrien. "Timothée and I were invited to this fundraiser that'll be held at this cool bootcamp and I thought that all of us could go as a group."

"That sounds great," said Marinette. "When will it be?"

"It'll be today actually," informed Timothée.

"Well, I'll see if Alya and Gérard want to go," said Marinette.

"Uh… would it be okay if..." stammered Adrien.

"What is it, Adrien?" asked Marinette with a confused frown.

"Chloé's father is hosting the fundraiser," explained Adrien reluctantly. "So that means..."

"Don't worry about it," lied Marinette. "I get it. We can all get along."

"Great," said Adrien. "I'll text you the details and we'll see you there. Don't forget your sneakers!"

"I won't," said Marinette, waving Adrien and Timothée goodbye. She quickly opened her locker. "Sorry about that, Tikki."

"It's fine," said the adorable little kwami. "I guess you have to get ready for this bootcamp thing, right?"

"Yup," said Marinette. "You can go back in my bag. We'll talk about this later."

"Okay," said Tikki, hopping into Marinette's bag as told.

Marinette felt a pit in her stomach. Seline and Chloé being friends made her incredibly uneasy, more than she thought could be possible. What is Seline trying to get at with all these mind games?

The sound of a very loud whistle stirred Marinette out of her thoughts. Marinette came back down to earth to see she was already at the bootcamp fundraiser.

"Hey, girl," said Alya. "Are you okay?"

Marinette looked to see that the bootcamp was conducted in waves. Several friend groups would go on an obstacle course—a winding road consisting of tire drills, mud pits, training walls with ropes, and more—to see who could complete the course the fastest. The current group consisted of two teams: the veterans (Marinette, Adrien, Alya and Nino) and the rookies (Seline, Timothée, Gérard and Chloé).

Yves, the bootcamp instructor, was a man wearing compression gear. He was the one blowing the whistle.

"Listen up," said Yves, beginning to speak very quickly. "All bets are off. This is a fight to the finish. The group to get to the end of the finish line wins! Got it?"

"If we're in groups, then we should have team names," said Nino.

"That's a great idea," said Marinette. "We should call ourselves… Team Miraculous!"

"Where'd you come up with that name?" asked Alya.

"Oh, you know," explained Marinette nervously. "It's because we're so good that we can make miracles happen."

"It's going to take a miracle for you to win," said Seline. "Anyway, we have a team name, too—Team Panthera!"

"And why did you choose that name?" asked Marinette. "It seems like you already had that in mind."

"Cheetah print, duh," said Chloé.

"It's also because we love big cats," added Seline. "Especially the powerful and majestic tiger."

"I actually prefer lions," said Gérard. "You know, the king of the jungle."

"I think leopards are highly underappreciated myself," said Timothée.

"Enough talking," interrupted Yves. "Get into position already!"

"Actually," started Chloé. "I didn't know that it would be so hot today, and… are we going to have to go into that stinking mud pit?! I just got my hair done!"

"This bootcamp isn't for sissies," barked Yves. "It's for charity!"

"But, like, I can't give to charity looking like a swamp monster!" complained Chloé.

"It's fine," said Adrien. "You look beautiful no matter what, Chloé."

Marinette and Alya rolled their eyes. Adrien took Chloé's hands into his, tenderly offering support. He knew exactly how to stop Chloé from making a scene. Seline giggled softly to herself, seeing through his tricks.

"My Adrikins," swooned Chloé. "I… I just don't know if I can do this."

"If you're not gonna do the obstacle course, then leave!" yelled Yves.

"Excuse me?!" retorted Chloé. "My father is the one who coordinated this whole thing. You will treat me with respect, Monsieur!"

"Poor little rich girl can't get her hands dirty?" mocked Yves. "Then leave! We don't need your kind around here."

"That's it!" said Chloé, throwing her hands in the air. "I can't do this. I'm gonna tell my dad!"

Chloé started running away. Adrien and Seline followed after her. Marinette, Alya, Timothée, Gérard and Nino shook their heads in unison.

"Why is it always drama with this girl?" asked Nino.

"This is for charity!" said Gérard.

"I wanted to tell you guys," started Marinette. "Chloé is too high maintenance to ever do something like this."

Far away in a mysterious room, light beams burst through the window of a lair hidden away in darkness. White butterflies rose from the ground, circling the lanky body of Papillon.

"A man's job is never done," said Papillon, his insignia emblazoned upon Yves' face. "I sense something inside you, something more powerful than the rest. I bestow upon you, Labyrinthe, the power to entrap those who dare to disrespect you! In return, go get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses!"

"Sir, yes, sir, Papillon!" said Yves, beginning his transformation. He turned into the akuma Labyrinthe, a monster with a gold-plated costume and giant cube upon his head. Just then, something unexpected started to happen.

Master Fu was seated on the floor of his massage shop, deep in meditation when he heard the box of Miraculouses begin to shake.

"What's happening?" said Master Fu. At that moment, three kwamis flew out of the boxes leaving behind orange, green and yellow trails of light. "Oh, no! They've escaped!"

The three kwamis travelled all the way to the bootcamp which has now turned into a gigantic stone wall maze. Two groups were situated on opposite sides of one another: on one side were Ladybug accompanied by Chat Noir, Rena Rouge and Carapace. Team Miraculous rose from the ground.

"Oh, my head," said Ladybug. She noticed the other Miraculouses beside her. "Chat Noir, and you guys, too! How did we end up here?"

"I… don't know," said Rena Rouge, sizing up the walls of the maze they were now trapped in. The sky above them was clouded with a sinister, purple haze. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," said Carapace. "But I sure don't want to find out. We need to get out of here."

"We can't just start walking without a plan," said Chat Noir.

On the other side were the other group of Miraculouses: Tigresse Blanche, Léopard, Lion and Queen Bee.

"How did we get here?!" asked Lion.

"I have no idea," said Tigresse Blanche. "An akuma must have planted us here. I hope Marinette and her friends are okay somewhere."

"Oh, really," chuckled Léopard. "Last time I checked, you were trying to ruin her life."

"That doesn't mean I want any harm to come to Marinette or anyone else for that matter," protested Tigresse Blanche. "Hey, who's that?"

She was a blonde girl in a yellow suit with black stripes got up from the floor. It was Chloé as Queen Bee.

"What happened?" said a dizzy Queen Bee. "And who are you?"

"We asked you first," said Léopard.

"Calm down," said Tigresse Blanche. "Don't be so hostile. I like her style."

"Why, thank you," said Queen Bee. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to find people with good taste in France."

"Hello?" said Léopard. "Does anyone remember that we're currently trapped?"

"Right, I say we go through here," said Lion, pointing towards an opening to their right. "And we should hurry. We're probably being timed."

"Precisely," boomed a sinister voice through the walls, startling Team Panthera. "I'm Labyrinthe, and I've trapped all eight of you inside this maze! Whoever makes it out alive… well, I guess I just spoiled the ending."

Labyrinthe cackled maniacally, purple lightning striking down from above his head.

"Oh, gosh," said Ladybug. "Did you hear that?"

"What did he mean by 'all eight of you,'" asked Rena Rouge. "Do you think there are more people than just us?"

"Maybe," said Ladybug. "Let's go."

Ladybug led the way, Team Miraculous trailing closely behind her. They constantly reached dead ends, forcing them to backtrack. They narrowly escaped booby traps like vines coming up from the dirt to grab ahold of them and nets hidden beneath leaves. They continued like this until they finally reached a rock climbing wall. It was as tall as a two-story building.

"We have to climb up that?!" said Rena Rouge

"Come on," said Carapace, locking arms with Ladybug in a square. "You can jump on our arms to reach up there."

Ladybug and Carapace used their arms as a launchpad, Rena Rouge propelling herself up and over the wall.

"Your turn, Chat Noir," said Carapace.

"No," he declined. "You can go next, Carapace."

"All right," said Carapace.

Chat Noir and Carapace switched spots and Carapace jumped over the wall. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around one of the highest rocks on the rock climbing wall and pulled herself up to the top, joining Rena Rouge and Carapace. Chat Noir easily scaled the wall with his nails.

"It pays not to get a manicure," said Chat Noir with a cheeky smile.

"You're such a goofball," said Ladybug. "Even now!"

"Oh," said Chat Noir, referring to something over Marinette's shoulder. "It's you guys."

Ladybug turned around to see Chat Noir was talking about Team Panthera.

"Queen Bee?" said Ladybug, shocked. "What are you doing with them?"

"How should I know?" said Queen Bee. "I just kind of… showed up."

"Anyway, fancy meeting you here," said Léopard. "Did this Labyrinthe guy get a 'two for one' superhero team deal at Akumas R Us?"

"Watch out!" said Carapace, contorting as he dodged an attack from Labyrinthe.

"Give up already, Labyrinthe," said Tigresse Blanche. "You can't possibly win with all of us here!"

"Just watch me!" yelled Labyrinthe.

All of the superheroes charged at him—he swatted Ladybug's yo-yo away, he tackled Chat Noir to the ground, he levitated and kicked Tigresse Blanche and her cousins over their heads. Labyrinthe continued to spar with all of them effortlessly. Carapace tried to perform a sneak attack but Labyrinthe caught on and twisted his arm behind his back.

"Are these the all-powerful Miraculouses that everyone has been talking about?" said Labyrinthe, his voice thundering through the open air. "They lay before me, weak and defeated! Wait… where's the other one?"

"Right here!" said Queen Bee, jumping on top of Labyrinthe, forcefully restraining him on the ground. "This ends now. Ladybug, hurry!"

"I'm on it," said Ladybug. "Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug ripped the whistle from Labyrinthe's neck. She broke it in half and a small butterfly started fluttering away. She rolled her yo-yo around her body and captured the butterfly with it.

"Je t'ai eu!" said Ladybug. She opened her yo-yo to see the purified butterfly take flight. "Bye-bye, petit papillon."

"I..." mumbled Queen Bee. "I don't feel well."

Before Queen Bee lost consciousness, she heard someone shout, "Miraculous Ladybug!" All of the Miraculouses de-transformed as Labyrinthe's maze collapsed to the ground.

"Chloé! Chloé!"

Yves shook Chloé who was unconscious on the ground.

"W-What?" said Chloé. "What happened?"

"It looks like all of you kids passed out from exhaustion," said Yves. "The good news is you all completed the obstacle course together!"

"Really?" said Chloé groggily. "We all helped the charity?"

"Yes!" said Yves.

"And it's all thanks to you, Chloé," said Marinette, still a little dizzy herself.

"Yeah," said Adrien. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Wow," said Chloé, seeing Nino, Alya, Seline and her cousins nodding in appreciation. "Thank you, guys."

"No problem, Chloé," said Marinette, being met with a disarming scowl from the groggy blonde.

"This doesn't mean we're friends, Marinette," said Chloé.

"That's fine," said Marinette, defensively raising her hands. "I get it."

"Let's give it up for the hero of the day," said Seline.

They all chanted Chloé's name who shamelessly basked in the glory of her victory.

Later that evening, Marinette finally arrived at her home completely exhausted from the day's heroics.

"Hi, Marinette," said Sabine, Marinette's mother.

"Hey, mom," said Marinette.

"How was your day?" asked Sabine.

"I don't even remember," said Marinette, slugging her way up the stairs. "I'm so tired!"

"Well, have a good night!" said Marinette's mother.

"You too, mom," said Marinette.

She opened the door to her room and belly-flopped onto her bed, snoring immediately when her head touched her pillow. Tikki flew out of her bag.

"That was such a weird thing that happened," whispered Tikki. "We'll just talk about it tomorrow. Goodnight, Marinette."

"Goodnight, Tikki," yawned Marinette, half-asleep.

As Marinette drifted off into dreamland, Tikki had more important things to do. Using the night sky as a veil of secrecy, she flew out the window and to Master Fu's shop. As she entered the Miracle box, the other kwamis were already huddled in a discussion.

"We were ripped from our box like some common plaything!" said Pollen the bee kwami.

"And we were forced to transform," said Trixx the fox kwami. "That's never happened before."

"This means Papillon is more powerful than we thought," said Wayzz the turtle kwami. "This changes everything."

"Everyone calm down," said Tikki. "We already knew that Papillon was incredibly powerful. Now, we know a little more of what he's capable of."

"Sugarcube is right," said Plagg.

"I told you not to call me that," said Tikki.

"All this means is that we have to be on our toes next time," said Plagg, ignoring Tikki.

"But it's more than just that," added Taag the tiger kwami. "If he can call us on command, then he can reveal our owners' identities by transforming them in public."

"If he had the power to do that, he would have done it already," chimed in Kimba the lion kwami. "I think only his akumatized villains can do that. It was only after that bootcamp instructor was akumatized that we transformed."

"I just remembered," said Trixx. "This is our first time seeing you three again after you left. How was Japan?"

"It could have been worse and it could have been better," mused Monsieur Pussycat the leopard kwami. "All I know is that my troublemaker Timothée didn't allow me to appreciate the culture."

"Listen!" said Tikki, gaining all the kwamis' attention. "Our mission just became much more challenging. We need to save Nooroo before Papillon can take full advantage of this new ability."

All the kwamis nodded in agreement. After saying their goodbyes, they all returned to their homes, apprehensive of what the future held.


	6. King Penguin

Summary: **Alya invites the dance team to the local aquarium but after the tour guide is akumatized into King Penguin, Alya must save the day as Rena Rouge.**

It was only the first day of Autumn and the leaves were already changing color and dropping to the ground. It really began to feel like the start of school season. On this morning, a girl in Paris was still asleep. Toys, gadgets and throw pillows were scattered all over the floor of her room. Alya woke up to the sound of birds chirping when her phone rang loudly.

"I'm awake," shouted Alya. She propped herself up on her bed, taking her eyeglasses from her nightstand and placing them squarely on her face. "Geez. This room is a mess!"

Alya got up from her bed, lazily slouching over to her desktop computer. The monitor was already on and opened to a familiar website: the Ladyblog. She flipped through its pages, watching videos of Ladybug saving the day again… and again. Alya reminisced about all the times she got to fight alongside Ladybug.

"Oh, Ladybug," sighed Alya wistfully. "Why can't we fight side by side all the time?"

A knock on the door startled Alya.

"Come in," she said.

"It's me," said Alya's mother, creaking the door open. "It looks like you got some mail."

"Really?" asked Alya, walking over to her mother. Her mother handed her this mysterious letter. "Who could it be from?"

"I don't know," she replied.

When those words hit Alya's ears, her pent up excitement completely deflated. It was probably just some random letter from school.

"Oh," said Alya. "I guess I'll just read it later. I have to get ready for school anyway."

"All right," said Alya's mother. "Just don't forget about it. It might be important!"

"I'll keep that in mind, mom," chuckled Alya. "Now get outta here!"

Alya's mother smiled at her, closing the door behind her quietly. Just then, Alya's expression changed to one of boredom. She went on to move through the motions: she put school clothes on, she brushed her teeth, she double-checked her homework for the day ahead… normal. Everything was just so NORMAL.

On the way out, Alya stepped out of her house and again, everything was normal. She walked down the same road being passed by the same people talking about the same thing as they did every other day. Would anything about her life ever change?

Before Alya knew it, she was already in class. Naturally, Marinette was seated beside her, trying to distract her from the boring lecture.

"Alya," said Marinette. "What's going on? You look kind of sad."

"Oh, no," lied Alya. She pretended to take notes. "It's nothing."

"Really, Alya?" said Marinette. "You're not a very good liar."

"Fine!" said Alya, showing Marinette the video that she had been watching earlier in the morning of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting with an akuma. "It's just… why is it that some people get to have such a cool life and the rest of us get… this!"

Alya spread her arms wide, gesturing to the classroom with students who gave her weird looks.

"Oh, Alya," said Marinette. "I know it seems like superheroes get to live an exciting life but you never really know what they're going through. Superheroes have issues too, you know."

"I never see them having any issues," pouted Alya. "It just isn't fair."

The bell rang. All of the students started to scatter out of the room.

"It is fair, Alya," said Marinette sternly. "We have to live our own lives and appreciate that there are superheroes out there who are willing to risk theirs to keep us safe."

"Yeah, yeah," whined Alya. "Everything is great. I get it."

Alya sunk her face into her arms, resting her head on the table.

"We'll talk later, all right?" said Marinette.

She started walking over to Adrien with red cheeks and sweaty palms.

"What's she gonna do now?" thought Alya, peeking at her friend stumbling. Seeing Marinette acting goofy around Adrien always put Alya in a good mood.

Marinette started by scratching the back of her head.

"I, uh… hi, Adrien," she said.

"Hi, Marinette," he replied with his disarming smile. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out sometime? Alone?" said Marinette, her voice rising in pitch at the end of the sentence even though she wasn't asking a question.

She felt her cheeks get unbearably warm. Adrien frowned, making Marinette's heart skip a little.

"Ah, sorry, Marinette," he said. "I'm actually gonna be hanging out with Timothée and Nino this afternoon. We can definitely hang out some other time, though."

"I, uh, it's..." stammered Marinette, having trouble stringing a sentence together. "It's fine. It's cool! No big deal, Adrien."

"Thanks for understanding," said Adrien with a small chuckle. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yeah," said Marinette. "See you later!"

Marinette just watched Adrien walk away, chatting with his friends in the hall.

"You completely forgot about dance practice didn't you?" accused Alya.

Marinette craned her neck back to see Alya with a judgmental look on her face.

"No," she scoffed. "Of course not. I just wanted to know if Adrien wanted to… okay, I did forget, but I didn't mean to!"

"That's fine," laughed Alya. "I understand. Just remember that the others on the dance team might not be so understanding."

"Thanks, Alya," said Marinette. "I can always count on you to be a friend. Now if you'll excuse me, I forgot something in my locker."

Marinette felt something moving around in her bag.

"See you later," said Alya, giving Marinette a little wave as she disappeared into the crowd of their other classmates.

Marinette made it to her locker in the nick of time to see Tikki zip out of her bag and onto her hands.

"Is it me or was Alya acting weird?" asked Tikki.

"Probably," said Marinette. "She's just been feeling down ever since getting a taste of the superhero life, I guess."

"The way that she talked," pondered Tikki aloud. "It was like she was trying to distract you with something. Do you think she still has her Miraculous?"

"No," said Marinette, tilting her head. "You probably would have noticed if that were the case."

"Oh," squeaked Tikki. "I guess you're right. All of these new superheroes popping up every day are making me paranoid."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Marinette, taking a look at her watch to see that it was almost time for dance rehearsal. "Oh! We gotta go, Tikki!"

Tikki flew back into Marinette's bag and she started running to the gym. Without noticing, she passed by Adrien and Timothée.

"That girl is always in a hurry, isn't she?" joked Timothée.

"That's Marinette for you," said Adrien. "She has a lot on her plate. It takes a special person to be that active, you know."

At the gym, the ear-piercing scream of a certain Chloé could be heard from a mile away even though Blackpink's "DDU-DU DDU-DU" was blasting away at full volume.

"Go, Seline!" she kept chanting.

Marinette, Alya, Gérard and Seline were too in sync to even notice Chloé. Every move was executed with ease but still with an edge that was further complemented by the energetic music. The final bars of the song rang out, causing Chloé to give the group a standing ovation.

"Thanks, Chloé," said Seline.

"You were great!" said Chloé, pumped from seeing the dance team perform so well. "And that's why I got the idea that I should join the group!"

"We already told you that this is a four-person dance," said Marinette, unable to hide her surprise or her disdain for Chloé in that moment.

"Surely, you can add another member, right?" said Chloé, turning to Alya when she asked this question.

"We've been practicing with four people and this routine is only for four dancers," echoed Alya.

"That's not a problem," said Chloé, crossing her arms. "We can cut Marinette out of the group."

"What?!" yelped Marinette, completely taken aback. "I've been here since the beginning. You can't cut me out!"

"All right, all right, you two," said Alya, stepping between Marinette and Chloé. "No need to argue. Okay, listen. We will be performing this routine as four members, but then Chloé will get to decide the next song we will be performing as a five-member group."

"I like the sound of that," said Chloé as her expression changed from sour to sweet.

"Can you dance?" asked Seline innocently.

"Do I have to know how to dance to learn a routine?" asked Chloé, genuinely perplexed.

"Don't worry," said Gérard. "I can teach you our current routine if any of us need an understudy. That way, you can get a feel for picking up choreography."

"Even better," smiled Seline. "With the five of us, our group will be unstoppable!"

"Why do I get a bad feeling at the thought of that?" whispered Marinette to Alya.

"That's because you know her too well," whispered Alya back before raising her voice to talk to the group again. "Anyway, guys, while we're all here, I thought it would be a good idea to spend some quality time together outside of dance practice. So... I bought us tickets to go to the nearby aquarium!"

"That's a great idea, Alya," said Marinette.

"I love animals," said Gérard. "But I'm also kind of terrified of them, so this should be fun."

"Ew," piped up Chloé. "Fish are smelly and look weird. I'll pass."

"I only have four tickets so you weren't invited anyway," said Alya, grinning sarcastically. "It's going to be at 5 in the afternoon, so make sure to be there on time."

"Wait, at 5?" said Marinette. "I'm sorry, but I have to take care of Manon at that time. I won't be able to make it."

"An event that Marinette won't be attending?" said Chloé. "Nevermind—I'm in."

Marinette stuck her tongue out at Chloé's smug little smile.

"Well, then," said Alya. "I guess that settled itself. All right, everyone, see you then."

On the streets of Paris, there was an anxious Alya walking while holding a letter she had already read several times over. The letter read:

"Rena Rouge,

It is time for you to learn. Come here when you are ready.

-Master Fu"

Alya reread the address and looked up at the building with the matching description. This must be the place. She knocked on the door… nothing. She took a chance, slowly extending her arm and grabbing ahold of the door handle, opening it slightly.

"Hello," called Alya, her voice echoing. "Is anybody home?"

The apartment was a humble little home. It was just one big room with a large dresser drawer in the back, two big glass doors leading to a balcony to the left, and a smooth mattress on the floor in the middle. There was a very short, old man sitting on the floor with his eyes closed near the head of the bed.

"So," said the old man, his eyes flitted open. "You are ready."

"Yes," said Alya, sitting down on the floor next to him with butterflies in her stomach. "And I want to know everything."

"What is it that you want to know?" asked Master Fu.

"I want to know about Ladybug," said Alya. "Do you know who she is? Can you tell me anything about her?"

"Now, Alya," said Master Fu firmly. "That is a secret you know I cannot reveal. Just imagine if I were to reveal your identity to a stranger without your permission."

Alya's thoughts raced: what would her parents think, would her friends accept her, what if she put her loved ones in danger…

"I made a mistake once before and I can't risk repeating it," said Master Fu with his stern but calm tone.

"I see," replied Alya. "Well, if I can't ask about that, then I want to learn more about myself. What are Miraculouses and how did I become one?"

"Miraculouses are just the jewels that hold the power held by the kwamis kept within," said Master Fu.

"Kwami?" repeated Alya, scratching her head. "Oh, you mean like Trixx?"

"Speaking of which," started Master Fu, opening his palm to reveal the fox Miraculous.

Alya failed to contain her excitement.

"What? I get to keep it?!" said Alya, almost shrieking.

Alya instinctually tried to snatch it away from Master Fu, but his reflexes were too quick.

"Not so fast," warned Master Fu. "Do we know the rules?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Alya. "Never tell anyone or else the whole world will know about the Miraculouses, the kwamis, and the superheroes. Am I right?"

Master Fu sighed heavily. "I guess that about covers it. Well, Alya, this is officially your Miraculous."

Alya grasped the Miraculous, overwhelmed with the new potential for adventure to save her boring life. She opened the box and a ball of light circled around her until it morphed into a little flying fox.

"Trixx!" said Alya. "Well, now that we're going to be spending so much time together, I guess I should take you back home!"

"Wait, Alya," said Master Fu. "I believe you had somewhere else to go."

"Oh!" she stammered. "The aquarium! I guess I gotta go then. See you later, Master Fu!"

"Remember your responsibility!" called Master Fu, but Alya had already ran out the door. "I hope I made the right decision..."

Meanwhile, the grounds of the Agreste mansion were in their typical pristine condition. The perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon for the average teenage boy.

"Hey," said Adrien. "Someone do a sneak attack!"

Adrien, Nino and Timothée were sprawled on the floor, playing a high-octane level of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Adrien played as Black Panther with Nino as Nightcrawler and Timothée as Wolverine. The video game characters battled hordes of robotic space enemies with their unique superpowers.

"I'm on it," said Timothée. "I have the most experience with being sneaky."

"What's that supposed to mean?" chuckled Nino. "What kind of sneaking around have you been doing lately?"

"I… uh..." said Timothée just as his phone started going off. "Oh, I'm getting a video call on my phone."

"Where are you, Timothée?" asked Seline from the phone screen, her brow furrowed in frustration. "I thought you said we were going to finally catch Lady—"

"Oh!" shouted Timothée. "Oh, yeah. We were going to talk to that lady at the library."

"Library?" blurted Seline. "I'm talking about Mari—""

Adrien's head tilted, wondering who Seline was talking about.

"I'm here with Adrien," said Timothée nervously in a singsong manner. "Would you like to say hi?"

"Hi, Adrien," said Seline, blushing. "You should've told me there were people there, Timothée."

"I didn't expect you to be so loud," he replied.

Adrien and Nino looked at each other, shrugging off the two cousins arguing as they usually did.

"You're acting kind of weird, Timothée," said Adrien.

"I am not!" protested Timothée.

"Did I hear my Adrikins?" said a whiny voice from Timothée's phone.

Adrien turned beet red when the voice reached his ears.

"You're hanging out with Chloé?" said Adrien.

"It is you, Adrikins!" said Chloé. "Tell Monsieur Agreste I said hi!"

"Will do," chuckled Adrien nervously. "Are you guys planning on going somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah," said Seline. "We're actually going to the aquarium today. Apparently, it's really cool."

"Anyway," said Chloé, once again snatching Seline's phone. "We've gotta get going."

"I know, right," said Seline. "I'll talk to you later, Timothée."

"Bye, Adrikins!" was the last thing that the boys heard before the call dropped.

Timothée started typing on his phone quickly, sending a text to Seline that read: "Don't talk openly like that again. You almost blew our cover!"

"Bye, Adrikins," laughed Nino, nudging at Adrien. "How cute that you got a call from your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," said Adrien. "But… speaking of girlfriends, where is yours?"

The aquarium was a four-story, cylindrical building that spiralled around a multilevel fish tank in the center starting on the second floor. On the first floor was an open penguin exhibit and each consecutive floor had a tank in the middle carrying a different species of fish. The walls also had a multitude of dedicated tanks for different creatures.

"It feels like I'm underwater," said Gérard as all of the exotic fish swam around the tank.

Seline and Chloé meandered through the aquarium until they got to an eel. The eel had a wide-eyed, blank expression on its face.

"Look," chuckled Chloé. "It's Marinette. I'd recognize that dumb look anywhere."

"She looks a lot less frumpy than usual," said Seline. "Looks like she's finally taking my makeup advice."

Alya frowned at the girls who were cackling at their own little jokes.

"Marinette doesn't need makeup advice from someone who can't blend," retorted Alya.

"Whatever," snarked Seline. "I'd rather wrestle a penguin than be in the same room as her."

"Speaking of which, the penguins are right over here," said Chloé.

The four of them all made their way to the penguin exhibit. It was a large pit in the floor full of water and an imitation of their icy habitat. Chloé tapped a tour guide on the shoulder.

"Pardonnez-moi, garçon," she said. "I would like to feed the penguins. Fetch me a bag of bird feed."

The shy tour guide Charlie took a moment to process what she asked and finally answered.

"Sorry," he declined. "But the animals are off limits and cannot be fed."

"You dare disrespect me like this?" barked Chloé. "I don't think my dad would like to hear that."

""No, no, no!" stuttered Charlie uncontrollably. "There is no need to involve the mayor. Even if I wanted to let you feed the penguins, it is not in my jurisdiction to allow patrons to interact with the animals."

"It sounds like you're just not trying hard enough," said Chloé.

"Hey," said Alya. "This is not cool Chloé. You can't just treat people like this!"

"Of course I can!" she shouted back. "And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me."

Chloé threw breadcrumbs from her sandwich into the exhibit and the penguins all gathered around to peck at the pieces. The tour guide ran away crying while a black butterfly fluttered from the air, landing on Charlie's lanyard.

A mysterious voice echoed in the tour guide's head.

"Hello, King Penguin," the voice said. "I am Papillon. I will help you get your revenge on that spoiled brat in exchange for Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."

"I am at your service, Papillon," said Charlie, transforming into King Penguin.

Back at the penguins exhibit, Alya was in the middle of scolding Chloé.

"That was incredibly cruel of you, Chloé," chastised Alya.

"So?" spat Chloé. "That's what I do. Get over it. Right, Seline?"

"Actually," said Seline reluctantly. "Even I have to draw the line there. I'm only mean to people who deserve it. That guy was just trying to do his job."

Chloé's eyes widened in disbelief from what was coming out of Seline's mouth.

"So now you're against me?" accused Chloé.

"It's not like that and you know it," explained Seline sternly.

"Save it," said Chloé. "I should have known better than to trust someone whose nail color doesn't match her outfit. I'm leaving!"

"Oh, no you're not," said a menacing voice.

The group whipped around to where the voice was coming from. A teenage boy wearing a black-and-white tuxedo with a yellow bowtie and a penguin eye mask with a small beak attached was standing by the glass wall in front of the penguins. It was the akumatized tour guide!

"You haven't even seen the best exhibit," continued the Charlie from behind his mask. "It's a spoiled brat getting attacked by penguins! Join me my minions!"

King Penguin roundhouse kicked the glass of the penguin exhibit, breaking it and dragging penguins into the aquarium floor in a wave of icy water. Everyone in the aquarium screamed and began running. Alya, Gerard, Seline and Chloé got swept up in the crowd and lost track of each other.

Chloé tried to make her way to the exit but got her ankle grabbed by a tiny penguin.

"Ew!" shrieked Chloé. "Get your slimy wing off of me! Fly away!"

"If you paid attention during your tour," said King Penguin. "You would know that penguins are flightless birds. Now, seize her!"

The penguins flopped onto their bellies and formed a sled out of themselves. They slid up behind Chloé making her fall backwards onto them. Four penguins held down each one of her limbs.

"This is not what I paid for!" yelled Chloé.

"Well, then," said the tour guide in a smooth, informative voice. "If we keep going this way and take a right at the jellyfish, we will make it to the shark exhibit. Please stay in line, everyone! Thank you."

The penguins slid in the direction King Penguin suggested.

"Shark?!" said Chloé. "Help! I'm being held hostage by a useless tour guide and his ugly birds!"

"Trixx!" shouted Alya, the little fox kwami popping out of her bag. "King Penguin just took Chloé, and, even though she kind of deserves it, I have to save her!"

"You're doing the right thing, Alya," said Trixx. "Now, let's get to it!"

"Transforme-moi!" said Alya.

A rope held Chloé over a shark tank. A hungry shark circled back and forth inside. Hiding by a starfish exhibit was Rena Rouge, planning her sneak attack.

"Okay," said Rena Rouge to herself. "Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't here, there's an akuma threatening to get rid of my enemy, and I have no idea what to do. We're off to a great start!"

At that moment Tigresse Blanche and Lion were on the opposite side hiding like Rena Rouge was. The two of them spotted her and stealthily crawled towards the starfish exhibit to meet up.

"What are you guys doing here?" whispered Rena Rouge.

"Same reason that you are," said Tigresse Blanche. "Anyway, where is Ladybug? Is she a no-show? Figures."

"That's rude," said Rena Rouge. "She can't be everywhere at once."

"Less fighting and more planning," said Lion. "Any suggestions on how to get that girl down safely?"

"I've got it!" said Rena Rouge. "Tigresse Blanche, how sharp are your claws?"

"Razor sharp," said Tigresse Blanche as she slid one talon against the other, making a sound similar to that of a sword.

"Good," said Rena Rouge. "It'll come in handy. Now, Lion. I need you to go up there and make a diversion."

"That's my specialty," said Lion.

In front of the shark exhibit, King Penguin was arguing with a voice in his head.

"Why can't I just drop her?" said an impatient King Penguin as Chloé dangled from her rope.

"Because you must use her to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses," said Papillon. "You can drop her later. For now, just do as I say!"

"That looks really uncomfortable," said a voice from behind King Penguin. "Penguin guy, could you get her down from there?"

King Penguin turned around to see Lion standing defensively in his golden-brown costume.

"You'll never save her," said King Penguin. "Penguins, attack!"

The penguins slid towards Lion and began their relentless assault. Lion ducked, elbowed and kicked at the penguins but there were too many of them. The penguins then started stacking themselves on top of one another until they formed a wall taller than Lion. They crashed down on top of him and held him against the ground. He struggled to get free but could do nothing.

Over in a dark corner, Rena Rouge held her flute up to her lips.

"Mirage," whispered Rena Rouge, quietly playing a mystical melody on her flute.

"Hey, guys," said Chloé. "I think the rope is tearing!"

This caught King Penguin's attention. He saw a tear forming on the rope holding Chloé. It eventually snapped, sending Chloé into the shivering waters with the shark. She disappeared under the surface and the shark followed suit.

"No!" screamed Lion. "I let her down… or at least that's what I would say if it weren't an illusion."

"What!?" said King Penguin.

"My partner-in-justice cut her down when you weren't looking," explained Lion.

King Penguin saw Tigresse Blanche carrying Chloé on the tour path. She let Chloé stand and scratched at the rope tying her up, freeing her from her restraints.

"You!" shouted King Penguin. "You can't escape!"

They ran to the restrooms. The penguins formed a sled and King Penguin rode it, following his targets. He disembarked the penguin sled and entered the restroom but Tigresse Blanche and Chloé were nowhere to be seen. He started kicking the stall doors open one by one.

Back at the shark exhibit, Ladybug finally made an appearance.

"Rena Rouge, Lion!" said Ladybug. "Where is he? What happened?"

"We rescued Chloé from the shark," said Lion. "But King Penguin followed her and Tigresse Blanche."

"They're in the restrooms," said Rena Rouge. "Let's go!"

When King Penguin got to the last stall, Tigresse Blanche burst from behind the door and tackled him. He was flung across the room and bumped into the air hand dryer. It turned on and blew hot air, but malfunctioned and began sucking the air with high pressure. It caught King Penguin's lanyard and suctioned it off his neck, shredding it to pieces inside the machine until it turned off.

"Well," said Tigresse Blanche. "That worked."

A purple-black butterfly fluttered out of the hand dryer, ready to return to its master.

"Wait," panicked Tigresse Blanche. "I can't capture butterflies, what do I do?"

"Leave that to me!" said Ladybug.

Ladybug, Lion and Rena Rouge were all standing at the doorway. Ladybug tossed her yo-yo at the butterfly and captured it.

"Je t'ai eu!" cried Ladybug triumphantly as the now purified butterfly fluttered out of the restroom. "Bye-bye, petit papillon."

"Miraculous Ladybug!" shouted Ladybug as a rush of Miraculous essence restored all of the damaged property.

"Well, well, well," said Tigresse Blanche. "It seems as though the all-powerful Ladybug was kind enough to grace us with her presence."

"Please, Tigresse Blanche," said Ladybug. "Don't be like this. I'm sorry for being late, but I had no other choice."

"Really?" said Tigresse Blanche. "Because the rest of us showed up just fine. I swear, literally anyone else should have the power to purify akumas. It's too important to leave it in the hands of someone so unreliable."

"I won't let you talk to Ladybug like that!" said a teary-eyed Chloé. "She has saved the people of Paris countless times. She represents hope for us. She is our hero. She makes me want to become a better person."

Rena Rouge's necklace beeped.

"Uh-oh," she said. "I've gotta go. It was fun working as a team again, guys. Let's do it again sometime!"

"Yeah," said Ladybug sullenly as she turned to face Tigresse Blanche. "I bet it was fun. I wish I had been there to see it."

Tigresse Blanche felt a pang of guilt as she heard Ladybug say this. Tigresse Blanche was getting what she wanted but for some reason... it felt wrong.

"What is the meaning of all of this?" said a distinguished man. "Charlie what happened?"

"Listen, Monsieur Manager," said Charlie. " I can explain."

"There's no need," interrupted the manager. "You can't seem to control your temper, you destroyed public property, and worst of all your customer service was atrocious! I'm going to have to fire you."

"Please, sir," protested Charlie. ""You can't fire him. None of this was his fault. He was the best tour guide here. In fact, I think he deserves a promotion, or I can make a call to a certain political figure to work this all out."

"No, no, no," stammered the manager. "There's no need for that. It seems this was all a misunderstanding. Charlie, not only will I give you your job back, but you will also be promoted to lead penguin aquarist."

"Wow," said Charlie. "Thank you, manager, sir! I promise you I won't disappoint."

"Do I need to get my ears checked or did Chloé just do something nice about someone other than herself?" said Alya.

"Well, it's not like I did it for him," said Chloé. "I just don't like to see any injustice. For example, making me look at your ugly wedge heels is a crime against humanity."

"And she's back," joked Alya, prompting everyone to laugh.

"I can't believe I've been bested once again!" said Papillon as his hand balled into a fist. Purplish-black butterflies fluttered around him in his lair. "But this mission was not a complete failure. Now I know of a new Miraculous and she calls herself Rena Rouge..."

Later that night in Alya's room, Alya was snuggled in her bed while talking to Trixx.

"Today was so exciting!" said Alya. "I got to fight a supervillain and save the day. It feels so fulfilling!"

"I'm happy for you Alya," said Trixx, the fox kwami.

"I know Master Fu doesn't want me finding out Ladybug's secret identity," said Alya. "But can I tell someone mine?"

"When Ladybug lent me to you she told you that you had to keep this a secret," said Trixx. "However, I don't see the harm in you telling one friend someday."

Alya happily squealed and hugged her kwami, not noticing the mischievous smile on his face...


	7. Swan Princess

Author's note: We just wanted to thank everyone who has been reading and leaving us feedback for the story! You guys truly keep us inspired. Also, this week's chapter has an akuma created by the lovely Mistress Mysterious. We hope we did her character profile justice. Without further ado, here's chapter 7.

Summary: **At Marinette's school showcase, a young ballerina is upstaged by a newcomer, sparking a rage in her to become the elegant but vengeful akuma Swan Princess.**

* * *

The sun lit up a young boy's room in the early hours of the morning, giving it an orange glow. The room had a sleek design, giving it a modern yet futuristic look. Gérard stood in front of his full body mirror wearing his sky-themed pajamas. He looked at himself in the mirror with his dark brown eyes, taking note of his halo of tightly curled hair resting on his head.

"This one says sporty," he said of the outfit in his arms. "While this other one says preppy. Which one should I go with?"

Gérard faced his bed to check Kimba's reaction to each outfit. The lion kwami looked at the so-called sporty one which was a jersey and basketball shorts then at the preppy one which was a yellow t-shirt with a cartoonish sun symbol in the center, a pair of plaid pants and brown boat shoes.

"The sporty one, I guess?" offered Kimba. "It doesn't really matter since you're just going to change into your costume for the dance showcase later."

"I forgot about that," said Gérard. "Then I'll take this bright preppy one, because it reminds me of you."

"Aww," said Kimba. "That's so sweet!"

"Alright," said Gérard. "Now that we got that out of the way, I need to mentally prepare for our performance."

Gérard started trying some of the song's dance moves in front of the mirror, mimicking the same mystique and passion encapsulated by Blackpink's Rosé, his favorite idol singer.

"Why?" asked Kimba. "You'll do fine. I know you will."

"That's the problem," said Gérard, . "We can't do just fine. We have to be spectacular, epic, life-changing!"

"All this pressure can make you mess up when it comes time for you to get on stage," said Kimba. "Let's try a little mindfulness exercise."

Gérard agreed and sat on the bed with Kimba, paying close attention to the kwami's instructions.

"Close your eyes and repeat after me," commanded Kimba. "I am as fluid as water. I am as light as air. I am as passionate as fire. I am as powerful as a tree. Nothing can stop me!"

"This is kind of intense for something that's supposed to relax me," said Gérard.

"Just trust me," replied Kimba. "After that, do your breathing exercises."

Gérard did as he was told and immediately felt more confident to tackle what the day had in store for him.

"Thank you, Kimba," he said. "I feel super ready now! Let's hurry up. I don't want to tell people I'm late because I was meditating with a tiny lion creature."

At school, students were hanging out with their friends before first period. Posters advertising the dance showcase were plastered all over the halls. Alya and Marinette admired their names on one of the posters.

"It's official," said Alya. "This is what we've been practicing for. How does it feel?"

"It feels like a rollercoaster," said Marinette, looking a little green. "And I'm at the part where I get sick."

"Don't get sick just yet," said Alya. "'Cause here comes trouble."

Seline, Chloé, Adrien, Nino, Timothée and Gérard approached Alya and Marinette.

"Hey, guys," said Seline. "Are you sizing up the competition? There's no need because with me on the team, we've already won."

"This isn't a competition," said Marinette. "This is just an event for the school's talented students to show off their skills."

"That sounds like something second place would say," said Seline.

Adrien stood between Marinette and Seline, raising his hands to make them stop their argument.

"Don't say that, Seline," said Adrien as he took Marinette's hands into his. "I'm sure you're gonna be incredible."

Marinette blushed deeply, completely forgetting about everyone else in the hall except Adrien. She wanted to stay like this forever but she became aware of those around her, realizing it would get awkward if she didn't say anything.

"Thank you, Adrien," she finally said. "That's so thoughtful of you."

The bell interrupted the conversation, prompting the students to say their goodbyes and go to their classrooms. Throughout the day, Marinette couldn't stop thinking about the kind words Adrien told her.

Day turned into night and the dance showcase was in full swing at the school. All the contestants gathered behind the stage's curtain. The dance team wore costumes inspired by Tomb Raider, all variations on khaki shorts and a black top. Marinette parted the curtain at one end and longingly stared at Adrien who was sitting in between Nino and Timothée in the audience.

"It's so nice of Adrien to come here just to support me," said Marinette.

"He's here to support us, too, girl" chuckled Alya, snapping Marinette out of her stupor. "Or did you forget?"

Marinette stammered as she felt the judgemental looks coming from her team members.

"O-Of course I meant all of us," she said to hide her embarrassment. "It would be weird if he showed up only to see me. I mean, it's not like we're boyfriend and girlfriend or anything. Not that I'm against the idea—"

"We know what you meant," said Seline. "I swear, you always ramble when you're nervous."

"I do not," she protested half-heartedly.

"Come on, everyone," said Gérard trying to change the subject. "Let's warm up with some stretching."

Marinette was grateful for the distraction, joining the dance team as they stretched in preparation for their performance. She noticed a girl in a light pink dress and a laurel with a beautiful white rose pinned in her chestnut brown hair. She was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself anxiously.

"I can't let her beat me," said the swan girl. "If I lose to her yet again, I don't know what I'll do."

"I don't believe I've seen you before," said Marinette, walking up to her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Gabriela," said the swan girl, trying her best to smile through the stress. "I'm going to perform a rendition of Swan Lake."

"Cool," said Marinette. "I'm sure you'll do great, but you seem worried. What's the problem?"

"There's this girl in my ballet class," explained Gabriela. "She just took up ballet five months ago, but she's already doing better than I am even though I've been doing this for eight years. There's a talent scout in the audience searching for a ballet dancer, and if he picks her over me, then all my work will have been for nothing."

"That sounds stressful," said Marinette. "But you need to remind yourself that this isn't the end of the world."

"If that's what you think," started Gabriela. "Then you don't understand what it's like to be constantly compared to someone."

"I know exactly how that feels," said Marinette. "But I don't let it control me. Your dancing should showcase who you are and people will gravitate to it."

Gabriela looked at her own palms, finding herself grounded and humbled by Marinette's words.

"Thank you, Marinette," she said. "I still really want to win, but I'm sure I'm gonna do well."

Marinette smiled warmly in response. Seline was taken aback by Marinette's behavior. Marinette acted like such a maternal figure that it reminded her of conversations she had with her aunt Jeanne, the woman Seline felt was the one true Ladybug.

"Snap out of it," mumbled Seline to herself. "Stay focused."

Just the thought of saying Marinette was like her aunt Jeanne made her uneasy, but she couldn't deny the similarities. A voice brought Seline's attention back to the showcase. Mademoiselle Bustier was the hostess for the night and introduced the upcoming talent.

"Please give a warm welcome to Sabrina Raincomprix," announced Mademoiselle Bustier as Sabrina climbed the stairs to the stage.

The dance team visibly squirmed as they heard Sabrina's name, reminded of her terrible audition.

"The poor girl is going to make a fool of herself," lamented Gérard. "Seline, record everything."

"Already on it," said Seline with her camera phone at the ready to capture every second.

Sabrina took to the stage in the same red jumpsuit she wore during her audition. As the spotlight hit her, she became an entirely different person—confident, self-assured. As the track for "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears played over the speakers, she hit every move with perfect precision and riled the audience up with her incredible stage presence.

Sabrina struck a charismatic pose at the explosive ending. The audience got up on their feet, giving Sabrina an uproarious standing ovation. This left the dance team with their jaws dropped in utter awe of the once-in-a-lifetime performance they had just witnessed.

"Don't be so shocked," said Chloé. "I don't surround myself with untalented losers... or at least I didn't before I joined this team."

"Shh," interjected Alya. "The next contestant is going up."

The dance team looked to center stage. A soft light illuminated a petite dancer wearing a drab, gray cloth.

"Up next is Julia Makarova as Cinderella!" said Mademoiselle Bustier.

"That's her," gasped Gabriela. "I'm afraid to see what I'm up against."

Julia danced as though she were exhausted by years of menial labor, her limbs swinging with sadness. She lifted her head up towards the spotlight as it found a spot of hope in her heart. This made her spin with delight and her drab, gray outfit sparkled and changed into a magnificent, blue ball gown.

Her movements became brighter and livelier. She was happy to be free of her lowly beginnings. Julia finished her dance with a deep bow and received rapturous applause from the audience. Julia stepped down from the stage and was approached by an old man in a suit who gave her a business card.

"I can't believe it," said Gabriela, choking back tears. "The talent scout picked her already. I've lost before I've even had the chance to compete. How dare she!?"

Gabriela ripped the tiara off her head and stared at it, wondering why she should even continue ballet. Marinette noticed this and felt terrible for her.

At that moment, Papillon's lair lit up with natural moonlight coming in from the window. He sent a purple-black butterfly out the window towards the school. Marinette saw the butterfly enter the school and panicked.

"Gabriela, stop!" warned Marinette. "Remember what I told you! Don't let this competition eat you up!"

But she was too late. The butterfly already attached itself to Gabriela's tiara. She heard the voice of Papillon in her head:

"Swan Princess," said Papillon. "I am Papillon. Don't allow this unworthy commoner to upstage you. Show her who is the best dancer in all of Paris."

"At your service, Papillon," said Swan Princess.

As Julia headed backstage, Swan Princess parted the curtain and took her place in the spotlight.

"Gabriela," gasped Julia. "What are you doing?"

"Silence, you swine," hissed Swan Princess. "I'm showing the world what true talent looks like."

The entire audience became entranced by her routine. They couldn't take their eyes off of her, her pirouette gaining velocity until she was dangerously fast. Starting from her feet and trailing to her crown, her light pink ballet dress whitened and her tan skin turned sickly pale. Julia became frightened and ran away into the hall.

"We need to get out of here," said Adrien.

"Good idea," said Timothée. "Let's go, Nino... Nino?"

Nino's eyes were glued to the stage, following every movement Swan Princess made. Timothée and Adrien got out of their seats and ran towards the exit, Adrien pulling a distracted Nino behind them.

Marinette saw Adrien running and became worried. Swan Princess brought her foot back down, coming to a dead stop. Just as she stopped, Adrien felt Nino's hand become feathery.

"Nino," he said. "What is this?"

Adrien turned to look at Nino and was met with a swan. The entire audience, save for Adrien and Timothée, had been turned into swans. Marinette gasped as she watched from behind the curtain.

"This is dangerous, guys" said Marinette. "We need to get out of—"

Marinette turned to face her friends but all she saw were swans: Alya, Gérard, Seline and Chloé had been turned. Marinette opened her bag and Tikki flew out to see her.

"Tikki," said Marinette desperately. "I tried to stop Gabriela from being akumatized but she wouldn't listen!"

"It takes a lot of effort to resist akumatization," said Tikki. "At least you tried to help. Now, let's go save everyone!"

"You're right, Tikki," said Marinette. "Transforme-moi!"

Outside, the beautiful sidewalks of Paris were littered with swans. Swan Princess delicately leaped on the tops of lamp posts like a bunny. She jumped down to the center of an intersection and landed en pointe.

Ladybug watched from a rooftop as two cars started coming at her from opposite directions. Swan Princess danced around the intersection, creating beautiful shapes with her body. She finished her dance with an arabesque, her arm pointing at the car in front of her and her leg pointing at the one behind. This caused the drivers of both cars to turn into swans.

"Swan Princess!" shouted Ladybug. "This isn't like you. You're better than this!"

Swan Princess ignored Ladybug and danced away to find her next victims. The cars began swerving wildly as the swans flapped around behind the driver's seat. Just before they crashed into each other, Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the bumper of one car and shifted its course to crash into soft bushes in a park.

She then chased after the other car and hopped onto the roof. She opened the car door and slid inside, stomping on the gas to make the car come to a complete stop. As Ladybug sighed she heard someone clapping and cheering.

"That was incredible," said the fan. "I'm starting to think you could do this all by yourself."

Ladybug turned towards the voice and saw that it was Léopard sitting on a park bench holding popcorn.

"I used to do this all by myself," said Ladybug. "Well, not exactly. I had Chat Noir help me."

"That's nice to hear," said Chat Noir, jumping down from a rooftop. "I almost thought you had forgotten about me."

"If you were here this whole time, why didn't you help me?" accused Ladybug.

"You looked like you had a good hold of the situation," said Chat Noir. "I didn't want to get in your way."

"That's never stopped you before," sassed Ladybug. "Anyway, we have to get Swan Princess. She turns people into swans if they watch her dance."

"So, it's a Medusa type of situation," said Léopard. "And if we get turned into swans… "

"Then Paris loses it's heroes," said Chat Noir. "But that won't happen if we're careful. So, where is our villain, bug-a-boo?"

"She went over there," said Ladybug as she pointed at a fountain.

Swan Princess was tiptoeing on the water in a fountain. She jumped up each level until she landed on the spout and spun slowly while water rushed around her, looking like a life-size version of a ballerina music box. Ladybug, Chat Noir and Léopard ran towards her. Swan Princess jumped down from her perch. Our heroes each took turns attacking her:

Ladybug kicked at her but Swan Princess grabbed her ankle and flung her away in one smooth motion. Léopard swiped at her with his nunchuck but she curved her back so that the nunchuck would hit him in the face, launching him backwards into the fountain. Chat Noir pounced on her but she used him as an involuntary dancing partner, spinning him around until he made himself dizzy and she pushed him into the fountain on top of Léopard. Swan Princess danced away, nearing the end of her dance.

"Shield your eyes!" warned Ladybug.

Swan Princess struck her final pose, on her toes and with her arms arched high into the air. Our three heroes averted their eyes when she did this and avoided turning into swans.

"This girl is no joke," said Léopard as he got himself out of the fountain.

"Fighting her will do us no good," said Chat Noir. "We've got to find another way."

"There's only one thing left for me to do," said Ladybug as she hurled her yo-yo up into the air. "Lucky Charm!"

The yo-yo transformed into a red boombox with black polka-dots, falling down to Ladybug as she caught it in her arms.

"A boombox?" said Ladybug. "How am I supposed to fight her with this?"

"How hard do you think you can throw it?" asked Chat Noir.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" teased Ladybug.

Ladybug's eyes traveled across her surroundings to find a use for this lucky charm. She spotted Swan Princess' ballet shoes, a poster advertising the dance showcase and lastly, she saw Chat Noir and Léopard.

"The only way to beat her is with a dance-off," concluded Ladybug. "And I have a secret weapon at my disposal—I need you guys to start dancing against her while I go look for someone."

"Cool," said Chat Noir. "It's too bad you won't be here to see my moves."

"I've already seen your tired, old moves," said Ladybug with a smirk.

Léopard walked past Ladybug and Chat Noir, standing his ground against the elegant akuma.

"Swan Princess!" he called. "We challenge you to a dance-off. Four of us against four of you. If we win, we get your tiara. If we lose, you… uh…"

"If you lose, I get your Miraculouses," declared Swan Princess. "Every single one of them!"

"It's a deal," said Chat Noir. "Each one of us takes turns dancing against the other."

Swan Princess conjured three swans and transformed them into swan-themed dancers just like herself. The first one stepped up to Léopard with rhythmic Turkish music playing from the boombox. Ladybug took the opportunity to escape as Léopard started belly dancing, isolating his hips with snakelike skill.

Back at the school was a frantic Ladybug, searching through the swan-filled halls.

"Julia!" yelled Ladybug. "Where are you?"

"Over here," said Julia as she stepped out from behind a janitor's closet door. "I'm so confused. What happened?"

"There's no time to explain," replied Ladybug. "I need you to come with me. It's for Gabriela. I'll fill you in on the way."

At the fountain, Chat Noir was breakdancing against his competitor. Ladybug came just in time to see Chat Noir win. It was now her turn to dance.

A disco song played and she did her best funky dance moves. However, her competitor was too good and she lost. Ladybug fell to her knees in defeat.

"I've won!" declared Swan Princess.

"Not just yet," said Ladybug. "We still have one dancer left. It's your turn, Julia!"

Swan Princess' eyes widened as she saw Julia step forward, finally being face-to-face with the rival who made her resolve stronger.

"You think you are so perfect," taunted Swan Princess. "But this time, I'm not the one who's going home a failure!"

Swan Princess' movements were violent, threatening to kick Julia. However, Julia was unmoved and remained steadfast in the face of adversity. Their dancing became more and more synchronized until eventually they were dancing with each other as opposed to against one another. When Swan Princess was too enveloped in the dance to notice, Julia tore the tiara off her head and tossed it to Ladybug.

"I'm freeing you from evil," said Ladybug, breaking the tiara in half as she captured the tainted butterfly with her yo-yo. "Je t'ai eu!"

The now white butterfly escaped Ladybug's yo-yo and flew off into the starry night sky.

"Bye-bye, petit papillon," she said. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A wave of healing Ladybug essence repaired all the damage, turning the swans back into people and reverting Swan Princess back into Gabriela. Julia walked over to her.

"What happened?" said a dizzy Gabriela. "Where am I?"

"You're at the park because you got turned into a supervillain," explained Ladybug. "You were so upset that Julia was noticed by the talent scout that you became akumatized. Your dance turned people into swans and you tried to transform everyone in Paris."

"Really?" said Gabriela, feeling equal parts shame and anger. "That's so embarrassing."

"It wasn't embarrassing," said Julia. "It was perfect. You became the best dancer in all of Paris. I had never seen anything like it."

"So the only way I could impress a beginner was by becoming evil," sighed Gabriela.

"I'm not a beginner," said Julia. "My mom was a professional ballerina and she taught me how to dance from when I was a baby. I was no longer interested when I got older, but I lost her in a horrible accident one day. I took up ballet again as a way of reconnecting with my mother, so I could make up for lost time."

"Wow," said Gabriela, moved by Julia's story. "And here I was engaging in a childish rivalry because I was jealous. I feel really stupid. I guess that girl from school was right. If I'm not in ballet for the right reasons then I shouldn't be in it at all."

"I wouldn't say that," said Julia. "Ballet is a competitive world. It's natural to be that way, but not everyone has to be your rival. After all, I have connections. I could share them with you and we can succeed together."

"It looks like our job here is done," said Ladybug. "It also looks like I'm going to de-transform any second now. Goodbye, everyone!"

Before anyone could notice, Marinette returned to the dance showcase to see everyone had turned back to their former selves. Her dance team was where she left them.

"And where were you?" snapped Seline.

"When I turned into a swan," started Marinette, trying to come up with a story. "I started wandering and I found myself pecking at the decorative flowers."

Adrien and Timothée surreptitiously slid back into their seats at separate times. Mademoiselle Bustier directed the confused audience's attention towards the stage.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened," said Mademoiselle Bustier. "But it seems that Ladybug and Chat Noir took care of everything so we should be fine. Since everyone is still here, we can continue with the showcase. Up next is our school's very own dance team!"

"Well, it's do or die time," said Gérard. "Let's do this thing!"

The dance team took to the stage, performing "DDU-DU DDU-DU." They were bombastic, hitting each explosive move in time with the beat and ending in an intense dance break. They wowed the crowd with their charm but nowhere near as successfully as Sabrina. Adrien cheered the loudest for them and made eye contact with Marinette, making her heart flutter. When they came back, they were confronted by Chloé.

"Remember how you said I can choose our next song?" said Chloé. "Well, I've made my decision. No, wait. I've changed my mind."

"You didn't tell us what the first one was," pointed out Marinette.

"I said, listen," snarked Chloé. "This next song is going to be even better! It's 'When I Grow Up' by the Pussycat Dolls."

"Well, we did promise." said Alya. "We'll do it, Chloé."

Seline and Chloé jumped and shouted in celebration while Marinette and Gérard just smiled at one another.

"A deal's a deal," said Gérard, giving a playful shrug. "I just hope Chloé can keep up."

"I most certainly can keep up!" said Chloé, making the dance team laugh together.

Later that night, far off somewhere unbeknownst to the citizens of Paris, the kwamis were once again congregating in the Miraculous box.

"We can't wait any longer," said Tikki.

"But who shall we bestow with the mission of retrieving our fellow kwami, Nooroo?" pondered Pollen.

"The one and only Ladybug, of course," said Tikki. "I trust her with all my heart to save Nooroo."

"Except she can't handle sneaking around," said Taag, Seline's white tiger kwami. "Think about it. Nooroo is kept hidden somewhere deep in Papillon's hideout. Only someone experienced in stealth and deception should be trusted with this task."

"Oh, yeah?" said Plagg. "Then who would that someone be?"

"Not just someone," said Taag. "Somethree. I nominate Team Panthera to take on this mission."

"It's a little convenient that you nominate your own Miraculous holder," said Trixx. "But I must admit, I can't think of anyone better."

"I only accept the best of the best," bragged Monsieur Pussycat, Timothée's leopard kwami. "Even if he is a little scoundrel."

"So it's settled," said Tikki. "You will inform Seline, Timothée and Gérard about their roles tomorrow. This is really happening. Good night, everyone."

The assigned kwamis flew back to their sleeping owners, apprehensive about the news they had to share in the future.


	8. Black Widow

Author's note: Thankfully, we were able to (kind of) get back on our regular schedule. We've been developing our Ilvermorny fic and it's been hard balancing both stories but we think we've been doing pretty well. Oh and, thanks for the feedback, everyone! Once again, this akuma was created by Mistress Mysterious.

Summary: **Team Miraculous fight Black Widow, a girl akumatized after being embarrassed in front of the mayor of Paris; Team Panthera commence phase one of Operation Save Nooroo.**

In the bedroom of a spiffy penthouse, a teenage boy and his leopard kwami sat in bed. Several posters of things like video games, superheroes and giant robots were tacked onto each wall, showcasing his love of all things action.

"One day, I'm gonna be like Lion-O," said Timothée, admiring the Thundercats poster positioned above his headboard.

"My dear boy," said Monsieur Pussycat. "There's something I must inform you apropos—"

"Thundercats, ho!" yelled Timothée, catching Monsieur Pussycat off guard.

"Listen, Timo," demanded the kwami, flying over to Timothee's ear to he whisper something.

"You want us to do what!?" shouted Timothée.

"Keep your voice down," said Monsieur Pussycat. "Remember your manners. It's as though I've taught you nothing."

"You want us to go into Papillon's lair and save Nooroo?" asked Timothée. "We don't even know who Papillon is or where he's hiding."

"That is why we are sending you as a team," said Monsieur Pussycat. "Taag and Kimba are informing the others as we speak."

Timothée sluggishly got up from his bed as he let all of this information sink in. This was a huge step forward in their war against France's supervillain.

"I wish you hadn't told me right before I had to go to school," complained Timothée as his alarm went off.

"Have a great day," said Monsieur Pussycat, earning an eye roll from Timothée.

The mission stayed on Timothée's mind all morning, pretending like everything was normal.

It was a Friday afternoon and all the students were excited for the weekend. Marinette, Adrien, Alya and Nino walked side-by-side on their way out of the school.

"Fridays are always the best, dude," said Nino. "Why can't every day be Friday?"

"Because it wouldn't be special anymore," said Marinette. "Having a Friday only once a week is what makes it worth looking forward to."

"Speaking of the weekend," said Alya. "Does anybody have any plans?"

As all of them thought about what they were going to do, Marinette saw a boy with shaggy hair that was dip-dyed blue-green at the ends come her way.

"Hi, everyone," said Luka. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not at all," said Alya with a smirk.

"Great," said Luka. "In that case... Marinette, would you like to attend a debate I'm participating in?"

Marinette blushed, taken aback by such a direct proposal coming from someone as aloof as Luka.

"Debate?" asked Marinette. "I didn't know you were on the debate team. I thought music was your only passion."

"Yeah, it is," admitted Luka. "But I'm also passionate about changing the world. That's what my music is about. Being on the debate team improves my writing for lyrics and helps me learn about important issues."

Marinette took this moment to admire his enthusiasm. Not many boys his age had such sage words.

"So what do you say?" he asked. "It's tomorrow, and I promise it won't take that long. You could even bring your friends."

"Y-Yeah," stammered Marinette. "Of course, I'll go. Do you guys wanna come with?"

"Oh, we're definitely going," said Alya.

"Sorry, guys," said Adrien. "I have a photoshoot all day tomorrow. I won't be able to make it, but you have my support, Luka."

"Thank you, Adrien," said Luka.

Adrien walked off to the side so he could find some privacy. His kwami Plagg zipped by his ear without his even noticing.

"Adrien," said Plagg. "You don't have anything scheduled tomorrow. Why are you lying?"

"Honestly," started Adrien, slightly embarrassed. "I just feel like a debate would be so boring."

"That's not nice," replied the black cat kwami. "You should have just told them the truth."

Adrien's face flushed, feeling guilty over what he had done. This was probably really important to Luka, he thought.

"I'll make it up to everyone some other time," said Adrien. "In the meantime, why don't we go get something to eat?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Plagg.

The following day, Marinette was anxious for what would happen later. Luka kind of asked her out on a date but also kind of didn't.

The saturday morning air was breezy so all those gathered outside the debate building wore light coats. The debate was held in a big brown room, a very imposing structure. It was still pretty empty, though, since Marinette and her friends had gotten there early. As Marinette walked into this room, Luka beckoned her over to the stage.

"Marinette," called Luka. "I'm so glad you made it."

"Oh, you know," said Marinette coyly. "I would never miss something for a friend."

"And here's my competition," said Luka. "Marinette, I would like you to meet Mélanie."

Mélanie had blue eyes and jet black hair fashioned in a waterfall braid. Her style was unique—she wore a white blouse, black tights under a purple skirt and beige Victorian boots. She shook Marinette's hand.

"Hi, Marinette," said Mélanie. "It's so nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," said Marinette as her eyes fell upon a brooch resting just beneath the left side of her collar. "That's so pretty. What is it?"

The brooch was in the shape of a shield. It had one color on each quadrant: gold, silver, bronze and violet. In the center of all these colors lay the word "Nice" in a swirly calligraphic script.

"Oh, this?" said Mélanie. "It's a family heirloom. My family is from Nice, but we've moved all over France after this was made. It doesn't make much sense anymore, but it's always great to remember my roots."

"That's beautiful," said Marinette. "Well, good luck on your debate."

"Yes, the debate," said Mélanie. "It's very exciting because the mayor is going to be here to watch over our debate. I want to become a politician in the future so this means a lot to me."

"It's almost time for us to start," said Luka. "Remember: no holding back."

"You got it," said Mélanie.

They firmly shook hands and walked back to their respective podiums. Marinette got down from the stage, sitting beside Alya. The judges gave the competitors their debate topic: Should schools make uniforms mandatory?

"School uniforms should never even be considered," argued Luka. "They promote conformity, stifle creativity, and are simply a ploy to take even more money from students. It is preposterous for anyone to think otherwise."

"You make a compelling argument," started Mélanie nervously. "But I have to disagree with you."

Mélanie looked out into the crowd and saw the mayor, André Bourgeois. Her hands shook uncontrollably and she gulped. She got her nerves under control and turned back to Luka, determined to win this debate. That was, until she heard someone shout from the audience.

"You can do it, honey!" said the man's voice. "I believe in you!"

Mélanie turned to where the voice was coming from and it was none other than her father. She had to restrain herself from facepalming.

"Dad," she whispered through gritted teeth like a ventriloquist. "Stop shouting. You're embarrassing me."

"What was that, honey?" shouted her dad. "Let me get closer. I think I can help you on this."

To make it out of the seats, her father awkwardly stepped on people's toes to get to the aisle. He then sauntered towards the steps leading up to the stage.

"No, Dad!" warned Mélanie, but it was already too late. "Stop!"

Mélanie's father tripped and grabbed onto her podium, bringing both of them down. He tried to get back on his feet but tripped again and this time brought Luka's podium down with him. The shock of this event made Luka back up into a flag pole that fell and caught onto the stage curtain, ripping it from the ceiling. Attached onto the curtain was a banner that read "Collége Fraçoise Dupont" and it came down draping Luka and Mélanie.

Raucous laughter filled the auditorium after this bizarre display. Mélanie lifted the banner off of herself and looked into the audience. She saw that even the mayor was chuckling. His daughter Chloé was cackling while recording the whole thing on her phone. Mélanie felt hot tears well up in her eyes and she ran away crying.

"Mélanie, wait!" called her father after her. "I didn't mean to!"

The morning sunlight lit up Papillon's lair as his window opened up, basking his lithe body in a blinding glow.

"Politics is not for the weak," said Papillon, clasping a butterfly in his hands. "Public humiliation is a bitter pill to swallow and it's especially bitter when it comes from those you trust the most."

He sent the butterfly out the window as it flapped towards the debate building.

"Go my little akuma," said Papillon. "Teach this girl that embarrassment doesn't have to end in tears."

Mélanie's brooch was tainted by the butterfly. She heard a dominating voice in her head.

"Black Widow," said Papillon. "I am Papillon. I can help you get the respect from your constituents that you deserve. Now, go get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses!"

"At your service Papillon," said Black Widow.

"Are you all right?" asked Luka as he was helping Mélanie's father up to his feet.

"I'm always so embarrassing," said Mélanie's father. "I only ever want to help, but it always goes sour."

"It's all right, Monsieur Lilydale," said Luka. "You just need to learn how to tone it down. I'm sure Mélanie appreciates how much you care about her. I bet she's coming back right now to tell you just that."

At that moment, a girl in a black bodysuit with a red symbol that looked like a blocky 8 ran screaming into the auditorium. She was wielding a red and black bazooka. It was Mélanie akumatized into Black Widow.

"Now, no one will embarrass me ever again!" shouted Black Widow.

She shot her bazooka into the audience and out came a spider-web that bound people tightly, making them unable to move. Among those caught in the web were Nino, Chloé and Mayor Bourgeois.

"Ew," exclaimed Chloé. "If this web rips any part of my outfit, you're going to pay for it!"

"Don't worry, Chloé," said Mayor Bourgeois. "Daddy will buy you an even better outfit."

Alya tried her best to pull Nino out of the web but it was no use—the web was just too strong.

"Forget about me," said Nino. "Just help everyone else. I'll be fine."

"Everyone!" said Alya to the panicking crowd. "Go to the exits. Hurry!"

Luka and Marinette helped Alya direct the civilians outside. Marinette personally escorted Monsieur Lilydale.

"Guys," said Marinette to Luka and Alya. "We have to get him to safety. It's him that Mélanie is after."

"I'll take him," said Luka. "Do you think you can walk?"

"I think I hurt myself when I fell," said Monsieur Lilydale. "I might slow you down."

"That doesn't matter," said Luka. "We just have to get out of here. Marinette, Alya—run to safety."

Black Widow scanned the room, noticing that Luka was taking her father to safety.

"No!" shouted Black Widow. "You can't escape my wrath!"

Black Widow chased after her father as he was led outside by Luka. Alya ran to the restrooms to hide in one of the stalls. She let Trixx out of her shirt pocket.

"Hey, Trixx," said Alya. "We're in deep trouble. Transforme-moi!"

"I'm already on it," said the little fox, as he was sucked into her necklace.

Outside, Luka was helping Monsieur Lilydale run away, who was hindered by his limp.

Black Widow followed her father's trail. Rena Rouge jumped in front of her, blocking her from the path.

"Black Widow," called Rena Rouge. "You're going down."

Adrien saw this happening from the food truck he was at, dumping the crepe he was eating into a trash can. He ran behind a building and let Plagg out of his pocket.

"Plagg," said Adrien. "There's an akuma. You know the drill."

"Don't I even get a little camembert?" pleaded Plagg.

"Luckily for you," said Adrien. "I brought some with me."

Adrien pulled a tin wedge out of his pocket and opened it to reveal the stinky cheese. Plagg took it and swallowed it whole.

"Plagg," commanded Adrien. "Transforme-moi!"

"Aw," said Plagg as he got sucked into Adrien's ring. "But I wanted to savor my meal!"

As Ladybug and Rena Rouge dodged a web that was shot at them, Chat Noir jumped to be beside them.

"Chat Noir," said Ladybug. "Nice of you to join us."

"You know how crazy traffic can get," said Chat Noir. "I take it that the other cats couldn't make it?"

Back at the Molyneux penthouse, the TV was set to the news. Seline and Timothée were watching as Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge were impressively fighting Black Widow.

"It looks like they've got it covered," said Seline. "That means we can go through with our own plan."

"Do my ears deceive me?" said Timothée. "Are you actually trusting Ladybug with saving the day?"

"Well, you know," said Seline, flustered. "She's proven to me that she won't always mess things up. Also, she's got Chat Noir and Rena Rouge helping her, so it'll be even harder for her to mess up."

Gérard came back with three pints of Serendipity ice cream with three different flavors—Birthday Cake for Timothée, Frrrozen Hot Chocolate for Seline, and Forbidden Broadway Sundae for Gérard himself. He sat down on the couch between his brother and cousin.

"Alright, let's get back to business," said Gérard, emphasizing each word with his spoon. "We've got to think about where this kwami could be. Any ideas?"

"Not a single one," snarked Seline as she ate a spoonful of her ice cream.

"Actually, I can think of one," said Timothée reluctantly. "But it's going to be way out of left field, so be open-minded."

"You're scaring me, Timothée," said Gérard.

Timothée let out a deep sigh as he prepared himself to relay these mysterious findings.

"Oh, it's scary alright," he replied. "I think Papillon might be living in… the Agreste mansion."

Seline and Gérard rose to their feet in shock. Although Timothée anticipated this reaction, he was still nervous about how to navigate through it.

"The Agreste mansion?" said Seline. "As in, like, the one Adrien lives in? You know, the kid who happens to be Chat Noir? That Agreste mansion?"

"I know it sounds crazy," said Timothée defensively.

"It doesn't just sound crazy," said Gérard as he fanned himself. "It is crazy! Robin Antin didn't prepare me for this."

Timothée got up from the couch, pacing to and fro as he became absorbed in his thoughts.

"I'm not going to mince words," he said. "I've spent the most time at his house out of the three of us and I've noticed some strange things. For example, their house is huge. Huge enough to hide big secrets like a lost Miraculous or even a secret lair."

"But that doesn't—" said Seline.

"Let me finish," interrupted Timothée. "I've also found butterfly insignias all over the house. I think whoever helped design the building is obsessed with them and is therefore Papillon. Lastly, Adrien and his father are extremely distant, almost like they're enemies. I believe they are exactly that, Chat Noir and Papillon. I'm convinced of this."

The Agreste mansion was a Parisien castle dwarfing the surrounding homes. Tigresse Blanche, Léopard and Lion climbed through an open window in Adrien's room. Tigresse Blanche opened the door and looked out into the hall. On the first floor was Nathalie, a slender bespectacled woman with dark hair tied in a bun, making the rounds.

Tigresse Blanche moved first, slinking through the second floor with ease. Lion was stepping rather clumsily and Léopard tapped Tigresse Blanche on the shoulder.

"One of us is heavy-footed," said Léopard, getting a glare from Lion. "Use that black magic thingy of yours, Seline."

"That's a good idea," whispered Tigresse Blanche. "Magie noire."

Tigresse Blanche plunged her hand into the black orb that formed in front of her and pinched the inside from above. This created a similar black orb around the three that reduced the gravity inside, lifting them a few inches off the ground. They ran without fear of making any sound, getting to their destination much more quickly.

They arrived in the Agreste atelier. They started looking all over the place for any hint of Papillon's whereabouts. Tigresse Blanche pulled back the gold woman painting and found a vault protected by a code.

"Hey, guys," said Tigresse Blanche. "Look at this. There must be something in it."

"Like money?" hoped Léopard.

"Or the butterfly miraculous," suggested Lion.

"We could find out," said Tigresse Blanche. "If we knew how to open it. Let me try something."

Tigresse Blanche tapped on the vault on different spots, looking for a weak point. The sound of the vault reverberated, occasionally sounding hollow or dense depending on where she tapped.

"I think I've found the weak spot," said Tigresse Blanche. "But if I open it, I'll break it."

"So, now what?" asked Lion.

"I want to use Magie noire, again," said Tigresse Blanche. "But I've already used it. I have to transform back, then feed Taag, and transform again."

"But that will take too long!" said Léopard.

"Do you have any other ideas?" said Tigresse Blanche.

Back at the fight with Black Widow, our heroes parried with the akuma as best they could.

"She's too fast," said Chat Noir. "And too… spidery."

"We've got to think," said Ladybug. "Lucky charm!"

Ladybug hurled her yo-yo into the air, turning it into a red plastic cup with black polka-dots.

"A plastic cup?" said Ladybug. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It's a little early to make a toast to our victory," said Chat Noir.

"I know just what to do with it," said Ladybug as she punched a hole through the bottom. "But I'm going to need Rena Rouge for this."

"That was quick," said Chat Noir. "Hey, wait up!"

Ladybug explained her plan to Rena Rouge and she accepted.

"I get it," said Rena Rouge. "Mirage!"

Ladybug's plastic cup with a hole in it transformed into a megaphone and a large crowd was conjured out of thin air.

"I declare that every school in France must ban school uniforms!" said Ladybug to a roaring crowd. "They are a travesty to all students!"

Black Widow saw how much attention Ladybug's "horrible" ideas were getting and couldn't let this stand.

"You're wrong," argued Black Widow, lowering her bazooka and forgetting to fight. "School uniforms would help students focus on studies instead of fashion!"

"Cataclysme!" said Chat Noir while Black Widow was distracted.

He sneaked up from behind her and swiped her brooch, shattering it into ashes. Black Widow turned back into Mélanie. She saw the remains of her brooch laying in a pile on the ground.

"No!" shouted Mélanie. "It's been in my family for generations. My mother will be devastated."

"Don't worry, Mélanie," said Ladybug as she set her sights on the butterfly flying out of it. "It won't stay broken for long."

Ladybug captured the butterfly with her yo-yo, purifying it.

"Je t'ai eu!" declared Ladybug. "Bye-bye, petit papillon. Miraculous Ladybug!"

Ladybug's healing essence washed over Paris, making the large crowd disappear, freeing the debate building of its webs, and repairing Mélanie's precious brooch.

Mélanie got up from the floor with her brooch in her hands.

"What happened to me?" said Mélanie. "All I remember is defending school uniforms. I don't even like them. I just researched it because that was my stance on the debate."

"You were akumatized," said Ladybug. "You were embarrassed by your father and became upset because of it."

"Oh, that," said Mélanie, remembering the whole debacle from the debate stage. "Yeah, my dad has a tendency to embarrass me. I know he doesn't mean to but that doesn't stop it from being embarrassing."

"Come on," said Ladybug. "I'll take you back. Do you guys wanna come with?"

"It's okay," said Rena Rouge. "I have somewhere to be."

"So do I," said Chat Noir. "Good luck."

All three heroes went their separate ways. Rena Rouge returned to the debate building and transformed out of sight. Ladybug swung to the same building and let Mélanie down. She swung away and transformed out of sight as well. They both went to the front door entrance, accidentally bumping into each other.

"Ow!" said Alya. "Oh, Marinette! What are you doing out here?"

"Uh," said Marinette nervously. "the same thing you're doing! I thought I would be safer if I left, but it I saw that Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge saved the day again."

"Yeah, that's right," said Alya just as nervously as Marinette. "I did just that. Great minds think alike, I guess."

They entered the building with Mélanie as she was meeting up with her father, hugging him.

"I'm so sorry, honey," said Monsieur Lilydale. "Ever since your mother left, I've had trouble with these kinds of things. Sometimes I feel like I'm in over my head."

"It's okay, dad," said Mélanie. "I know you do everything because you care about me, but you really need to tone it down. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'll be just fine."

Mayor Bourgeois approached Mélanie and her father.

"That was quite a show you made," joked Mayor Bourgeois.

"I'm really sorry," said Mélanie, turning red. "I let my emotions get the best of me. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a politician."

"On the contrary," said Mayor Bourgeois. "There isn't a single politician in the world that hasn't faced public humiliation at some point in their careers. I myself was turned into a supervillain once. All that matters is how you handle the embarrassment. I see a bright future in you."

Mélanie was relieved and felt like her prospects were no longer dim.

"You've won this round," said Papillon. "But one of these days, Ladybug, I will get your Miraculous!"

Papillon turned back into Gabriel Agreste, licking his wounds after another defeat.

In the Agreste atelier, Seline had transformed out of Tigresse Blanche to let Taag rest. When they heard the platform raising Gabriel Agreste to their floor, they nearly jumped out of their skin. Seline quietly slammed the painting back over the vault and ran with her cousins, who transformed out of their superhero forms as well, out of the room.

When Gabriel stepped off the platform, he heard strange footsteps coming from the other side of the door. He rounded the corner, and before him stood Seline, Gérard and Timothée in their civilian forms smiling awkwardly.

"Who are you three?" said Gabriel with his distinct, cold voice. "And what are you doing here?"

"I'm Timothée, remember?" said Timothée as he began sweating. "I'm one of Adrien's friends."

"That's right," said Gabriel. "I do remember you being here on occasion. But I don't remember either of you two."

"I'm his cousin," said Seline.

"And I'm his brother," said Gérard.

"And we're here because," started Timothée, thinking of an excuse on the spot.

"Because Adrien asked us to look for his textbook for him," added Seline. "And it's right here."

Seline plopped a large textbook onto Timothée's hands. Timothée was almost brought down by its heft. He gave Seline a questioning look, wondering where she had gotten it from, but she simply shrugged. Her sneaky nature gave her a tendency to steal things, even if it was something she didn't want.

"Why did he send all three of you?" asked Gabriel.

"Adrien didn't know where the book was," explained Gérard, taking his turn to come up with an excuse. "So we thought it would be a good idea to bring as many helping hands to find it more quickly. Also, we thought we could help each other if we got lost because we get lost easily, which explains why we're here instead of the exit."

"So, if this all checks out," said Timothée, wishing for this to end. "We'll be on our way."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the young kids, but he decided not to probe any further.

"Yes, it all checks out," answered Gabriel. "You may leave now."

The three of them sighed and tried to get out of the mansion as quickly as possible without looking guilty.

Chat Noir turned back into Adrien and returned home. He was greeted by his father standing at the top of the grand staircase.

"Adrien," said Gabriel as he descended the steps. "It's good to see that you're back."

"Thank you, father," said Adrien, suspicious of his father's concern. "How was your day?"

"It was busy as usual," said Gabriel. "But there was one oddity that happened today. I found three unusual children in this house. They were Timothée and two others whose names I can't recall. Can you tell me why they were here?"

Adrien got a text at that moment and checked to see who it was. It was Timothée, who had written: "We were at your house to get your textbook for you. Just trust me on this, I'll tell you everything later." Adrien put his phone away, looking back up at his father.

"The other two were Seline and Gérard," said Adrien. "I asked them to get me my textbook. I like to get my homework out of the way as quickly as possible."

"Really?" said Gabriel. "And how did they get through the front gate?"

"I gave them the key," said Adrien. "Listen, are we done with all the questions? I'm really exhausted and I would like to rest."

"Yes," said Gabriel. "On one condition—you are not to invite friends over without getting my express permission first. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," answered Adrien. "It won't happen again."


	9. Aphrodite

A/N: Hey, guys! Our other story has been taking a bit more work than we thought so sadly we will be going on a small hiatus. However, chapter 10 is going to be debuting on October 31st! We chose Halloween costumes for all of the characters but Marinette. For some reason, we can't pick the perfect costume for her, so if you guys have any ideas, we'd love to hear them! The supervillain of this chapter is based on a character profile by Mistress Mysterious.

Summary: **After being rejected by the boy she likes, a scorned girl is akumatized into the enchanting Aphrodite; Team Panthera re-evaluate their plan to rescue Nooroo.**

* * *

Inside Marinette's eye-catchingly pink room, Marinette's friends Mylène and Juleka sat on her sofa while Alix and Rose sat on the floor. Before them was a large board containing a map of a city in France.

"All right, guys," said Marinette. "I have an ingenious plan to get Adrien to fall madly in love with me. Here's the plan for Operation Watery Flight."

"Ooh, ooh," hooted Alix, raising her hand playfully like an antsy child in class.

"Yes, Alix?" said Marinette.

"Didn't we try this before?" asked Alix. "I remember that it failed spectacularly."

"Uh, yes," said Marinette, blushing. "It did fail, but that wasn't our fault. The plan was great. The execution, however, needed lots of work, and that's exactly what we're going to improve upon."

Marinette pointed at the map, which was filled with sticky notes and crudely drawn illustrations, with a pink hand pointer.

"Tomorrow, we're all going to the science center," said Marinette. "There's a lake near it with those cute swan boats you can pedal with your feet, one of the most romantic pastimes."

Marinette sighed with a smile as she fantasized about being on a boat ride with Adrien. It was only the two of them on a swan boat in the middle of a large, sparkling lake. The radiant sun cast an angelic aura over Adrien's golden locks. He turned to smile at Marinette.

"I'm so happy you brought me here, Marinette," he would say. "It reminds me that I should have done this a long time ago."

Adrien leaned in for a kiss and Marinette did the same. She closed her eyes, moving closer and closer towards his lips.

"Marinette!" shouted Alya, snapping Marinette out of her little fantasy scenario.

Marinette opened her eyes to see that she was kissing a plushie giraffe held by Alix. All her friends laughed as Marinette reached for the giraffe, throwing it on her bed.

"Anyway," said Alya. "Here's the plan. We're going to have a school field trip to the science center. After that, we have a whole hour to ourselves before the school bus takes us back, so that is when our plan begins. First, Marinette will ask Adrien to go on a boat ride."

"Good luck with that," said Alix.

"The reason our last plan failed was because Marinette turned down a car ride with Adrien," said Mylène.

Marinette was getting tired of this ridicule, stomping her foot down in frustration.

"This time is gonna be different," she proclaimed. "It's not like I'm asking him out. It's just a casual boat ride between friends. No pressure at all."

"For the next step," continued Alya. "Mylène will bring her opera singer uncle to serenade the lovely couple. Then, Alix will use an industrial-strength fan to blow beautiful cherry blossom petals from a nearby tree to slowly fall around Marinette and Adrien."

"Then here comes the hard part," said Marinette.

She pointed at a red square with a little stick figure inside it on the map that highlighted the lake.

"Right here is where the lake engineer is stationed," said Marinette. "Juleka will make incredibly interesting conversation with the engineer, distracting him from his post. Rose will use this opportunity to get in and pull down the big red lever. That will turn the fountain on, creating a beautiful rainbow above us and serving as a symbol of our relationship. At that point, Adrien will be so overwhelmed with all the signs that he will ask me out on the spot."

"That makes this a five-step operation," added Alya. "Each step will be represented by a color: yellow, blue, red, green, and purple."

Juleka mumbled something unintelligible, but everyone understood what she said anyway.

"Each step is given a color because this is a secret mission, Juleka," said Marinette. "We can't just have people discovering our secret plan. All right, that's it for today. Let's go to school, and remember your roles, everyone."

While this was happening in the Dupain-Cheng household, Timothée and Gérard entered Seline's room in the Marc penthouse. Timothée's eyes zipped all over the room, eventually resting on Seline's K-pop posters.

"I can't believe you still have that dumb boy band on your wall," chuckled Timothée. "Aren't you a little old for that?"

"At least I'm not the one who plays with dolls," sassed Seline.

"They're action figures!" he said defensively.

Gérard snapped his fingers loudly, stopping his brother and cousin from going after each other.

"Focus, you two," he said. "We lost precious time failing our previous mission, so we must make our plan foolproof for next time."

"We have to find a time when the Agreste mansion will be empty again," said Timothée.

"Now that I think about it," said Seline. "We don't even know for sure if Nooroo is in the Agreste mansion. Let's face it: we've made absolutely no progress."

Their feline kwamis—Taag, Monsieur Pussycat, and Kimba—were huddled in a corner, having a quiet conversation.

"And what are you guys talking about?" asked Seline.

The kwamis jumped a little, surprised that they were being called out. They dispersed from their huddle.

"I thought you guys would've found Nooroo's location by now," said Taag. "But…"

"Perhaps we overestimated how good you are," said Monsieur Pussycat tersely. "Clearly, you three need outside help."

"Hmph!" complained Timothée, his arms crossed. "I thought we were doing just fine."

"But Seline said it herself," said Kimba. "You've made no progress."

"All we've found is a vault that probably just has money in it," said Seline.

"I forgot to tell you," said Taag. "When you de-transformed and I was building my energy up again, I could feel a kwami's presence nearby right before Gabriel caught us. It has to be Nooroo."

"All right then," said Seline. "Who do you think should help us?"

"Ladybug," said all three kwamis together.

Seline's eyes almost popped out of her head. Timothée tried his best not to laugh uncontrollably.

"Let's finish this conversation later," said Gérard. "We've gotta go to school and pretend everything is fine."

The halls of Collège Françoise Dupont were bustling with its chipper student body. Not so chipper was Adrien Agreste, who slammed his locker door shut. He was startled after noticing Seline, Timothée, and Gérard were standing silently right behind the locker door.

"Oh," said Adrien, heaving a sigh of relief after the initial shock. "It's you guys."

"Yes," said Timothée, clutching at the rosary that always adorned his neck. "And you deserve an explanation. The reason we came into your house without your permission was that... I dropped my rosary that's really important to me. Our parents found out that it was missing, and I wanted to get it back before they suspected I was the one who lost it."

"But you weren't there, Adrien," said Seline. "We heard that you were out at a photoshoot, so we decided that there would be no harm in going through your window to try to find it."

"And we did find it," said Gérard. "We didn't hear anyone else in the house, so we thought we could just go through the front door. That's when your dad found us and we made an excuse about a textbook."

"Which is right here," said Seline, plopping down a large textbook into Adrien's hands.

Adrien was speechless, incapable of doing anything but laugh at the absurdity of this situation.

"It's all right," said Adrien. "I understand, but since my dad found you, he forbade me from having anyone at the house without his permission. I just don't want you guys to get in trouble."

"That's fine," said Seline. "This was just a one time thing. Right, everyone?"

Timothée and Gérard both nodded vigorously, trying their best to look equal parts concerned and remorseful.

"Well," said Adrien. "I'll see you guys around."

"See ya," said Seline, Timothée and Gérard in unison.

Adrien watched as the three of them walked away from ear shot. Plagg flew out to speak with him.

"Did you buy their story?" asked Plagg, feigning ignorance about their intentions.

"I'm not entirely sure," replied Adrien. "I just know they're not gonna try it again, so it's fine."

"Yeah," said Plagg nervously, worried about their plan to rescue Nooroo. "They're not gonna try it again."

Three lockers away from them was a pretty, dark-haired girl named Madison. She wasn't usually shy, but there was something about her current situation—wanting to ask her crush out during the field trip—that made her question herself.

Across the hall from her was the boy of her dreams, the school jock Kim Chiến Lê. Madison marched over to Kim, ready to spill her guts but his friend Ondine got to him first.

"Not today," said Madison, a sigh escaping her pink lips as she sullenly stared down at her amulet. "But someday, I will have him."

Madison stepped away as Kim and Ondine started talking, seeing them walk towards the cafeteria together.

High-energy pop music was bouncing off the walls in the gymnasium. Chloé was teaching Marinette, Alya, Seline, Gérard and Sabrina, the latest addition to the team, their current dance routine.

"Sabrina," said Gérard. "I want to apologize for being cruel to you when you auditioned. I simply didn't know what talent looked like when it was staring me right in the face."

"Don't apologize," said Sabrina. "You were right. I needed practice and that's just what I did. If you didn't give me constructive criticism, I never would've—"

"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Chloé. "That's sweet and all but now I need everybody to shake it!"

Ever since the dance team started learning the choreography to "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls, Chloé started acting as though she were the captain. Marinette was getting fed up with it very quickly.

"Knock it off, Chloé," said Marinette. "Stop being so bossy."

"Excuse me?" asked Chloé. "I'm sorry I don't speak loser."

"That's enough, Chloé!" snapped Seline. "The only reason you're here is because Marinette allowed you to be here. Don't be so ungrateful."

The entire room went silent, save for the pumped-up music. Chloé's cheeks felt like they would burn off from the embarrassment.

"I would watch my step closely if I were you," said Chloé slowly. "Because you never know when you might trip."

Chloé walked away, accompanied by Sabrina, to review the choreography on her laptop once more.

"Thanks, Seline," said Marinette, unsure of how to take this. "I thought I was alone for a moment."

"I know when someone's in the wrong," said Seline. "And Chloé was wrong for that."

Off to the side, Gérard narrowed his eyes at Seline, being weirded out at his cousin being… nice?

"We should stop for now," said Alya. "Great job, everyone. The field trip is going to start soon, so rest up before then."

Marinette and Alya left the room, walking down the halls.

"I'm exhausted after all that drama back there," said Marinette. "I can't wait for this field trip to freshen me up."

"Don't get too comfy," said Alya. "Because we still have Operation Watery Flight to think about."

Right then, they spotted Madison staring at the gem on her necklace that she held between her hands, looking perturbed.

"Hey, girl," said Alya as they approached Madison. "You look like you could use a pick-me-up. What's wrong?"

Madison was in such deep thought that she didn't even notice Alya and Marinette were right next to her until they spoke.

"I've got love problems," sighed Madison dejectedly.

"Don't we all," said Alya, giving a sideways smirk to Marinette. "Tell us what the problem is. We could help you with it."

"I'm not sure you can," said Madison. "There's this... boy I like, and I want him to like me back, so I bought this love amulet. It's made of rose quartz."

Madison held the amulet out for the two of them to see it better. It was a golden necklace with a pink, crystal point gem held by the gold chain. It was smooth enough that Marinette and Alya could see their pink reflections staring back.

"The store owner told me that the biggest romances in history involved a love amulet," she explained. "It has the magical property of creating powerful emotions in your love interest, making them associate that feeling with the wearer."

"Wow," said Marinette and Alya at the same time with stars in their eyes.

"But I don't think it works," said Madison. "Because he still doesn't like me."

Madison was on the verge of tears. Marinette and Alya gave each other a nod.

"Would you like to come with us on the field trip?" asked Marinette. "We could have fun and take our minds off our problems. I know I need to."

"Sure," said Madison, beginning to feel better already.

Marinette and Alya walked with Madison the rest of the way towards the school buses ready to take the kids to the science center.

When the buses dropped the students off, Marinette and Alya accompanied Madison to an assortment of exhibits in an effort to cheer her up. They mounted an earthquake simulator. While Marinette and Alya were falling over each other trying to stay upright, Madison didn't even react to the shaking platform. Marinette and Alya enjoyed flying their airplanes in the flight simulator, but Madison didn't even take her airplane to the sky. Marinette and Alya took turns getting inside a giant bubble but Madison didn't even notice them placing her in one as it popped.

"Geez, am I like this?" asked Marinette.

"No," said Alya. "Your love sickness is much more entertaining."

Marinette, Alya and Madison went back to their bus, sad that they couldn't raise Madison's spirits. Mademoiselle Bustier entered the bus and called the students' attention at the front.

"All right, class," she said. "We are at the end of our field trip. However, we still have one hour left before the buses take us back to the school. You may use this time to look around and have fun, but please, stay in groups and don't get lost."

All the students left their buses and were excited to explore the location. Seline, Timothée and Gérard were walking aimlessly when they saw the lake with the swan boats.

"Hey, look," said Timothée. "This reminds me of a certain supervillain. Get it? Swan Princess? Oh, right, you guys weren't there."

"We were busy waddling when that happened," said Seline, rolling her eyes. "Let's go to this cute shop. They sell cool comic books."

Sabrina and Chloé looked around for something to do when Chloé stopped abruptly and pointed at the lake.

"Sabrina!" said Chloé. "See those boats? I want to ride one."

"Okay," said Sabrina. "But you'll have to help me pedal."

"No, thank you," said Chloé. "You will be doing the pedalling."

As the students split up to their various activities, Marinette and her friends got into position for Operation Watery Flight: Alix had her industrial-strength fan in front of the cherry blossom; Mylène called her opera singer uncle to come to the park; Rose and Juleka sat on a bench across from the engineer station; and Alya was looking out from behind a window from the third floor of a nearby shop with her binoculars and a handsfree headset.

"All the pieces are set," said Alya to everyone else's discreet headsets. "Here comes the first step, Marinette. Code yellow commences now."

Adrien was looking out at the lake with Nino. All Marinette had to do was walk up to him and invite him on a boat ride.

"Adrien!" called Marinette as she approached him.

Adrien turned to face her and smiled upon seeing it was his friend. Marinette nearly got lost in his eyes but she caught herself in time to continue the plan.

"Adrien, I wanted to ask you out on a plate—skate, I mean, date," stuttered Marinette, feeling accomplished for finally spitting it out then realizing what she said. "No, wait! I didn't mean to say 'date,' I meant—!"

Marinette's face turned red as she heard hushed laughter coming in through her headset.

"Marinette," said a calming voice from behind her. "It's so nice to see you again. You too, Adrien."

Marinette turned around and saw that it was none other than Luka. If her heart was beating loudly before, it was bursting out of her chest at this point.

"I'm sorry for what happened at the debate," said Luka.

"That wasn't your fault," said Marinette, brushing it off. "That kind of thing happens all the time."

"While we're here," said Luka. "Do you want to go for a boat ride?"

"Shouldn't I be saying that?" thought Marinette to herself. This wrench in the plan messed up her concentration and she racked her brains for a response.

"I'd love to go on a boat ride with you," said Marinette, regretting this immediately. All she knew was that she couldn't back out of it now.

"Actually, that sounds like fun," said Adrien. "I want to go, too, but I'd need a partner."

"Uh," said Marinette as she struggled to think of something. "You can go with… Madison!"

Madison was caught off guard when Marinette ushered her towards an equally confused Adrien.

"All right," said Adrien. "Sounds great."

Alya couldn't see well through the dirty window, so she assumed Marinette agreed to go with Adrien.

"Everything is going according to plan," said Alya.

In Chloé's and Sabrina's swan boat, the two of them kept going around and around.

"Sabrina," said Chloé. "I want to go forward. Why are we going in a circle?"

"Because you need two people to move the boat forward," said Sabrina, getting exhausted. "If you want it to go forward, you need to help me—"

"Nope!" interrupted Chloé. "I won't hear it. I won't be doing any physical labor. I just want to move forward."

"Initiate code blue!" said Alya up in the store window.

As Marinette stepped into the swan boat with Luka, Mylène brought her uncle to a hedge of tall shrubs that hid them from view of the lake.

"Mylène," said her uncle. "Why are you taking me here?"

"I've taken an interest in opera," fibbed Mylène. "I want to hear you sing some songs because I heard the acoustics here are great."

"Really?" said her uncle. "No one in my family has been interested in opera before. Okay, here goes."

He began singing a very silly song, urging Mylène to stop him.

"What was that?" asked Mylène.

"I play the major general in the Pirates of Penzance," said her uncle. "This is his most famous aria, and I intend on perfecting it."

He continued singing loudly. Luka and Marinette could hear the song from the lake.

"That's an interesting song," said Luka, chuckling slightly.

Marinette tried whispering into her headset for them to cancel their mission but a bird splashed water into her ear, causing it to malfunction. Marinette flinched at the electric shock.

"Code red," instructed Alya.

Alix set herself up in front of the cherry blossom tree and, with much difficulty, aimed her fan up at it and turned it on. The force of the wind blew her backwards on her skates, rolling her away. She skated against the wind's force and dug her wheels into the dirt near the tree. She finally aimed it up at the petals in Marinette's direction.

The fan was too strong and it overwhelmed Marinette and Luka by blowing cherry blossom petals directly into their faces and filling up their boat.

"We're in the final stretch, people," said Alya. "Code green!"

Juleka walked up to the engineer in his booth and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" said the old engineer. "What do you want, kid?"

Juleka mumbled something that only she could understand.

"Sorry, what?" said the engineer. "I can't hear you."

"I said…" said Juleka before trailing off into her mumble.

The engineer stepped closer and closer to hear her more clearly until he was led out of the booth and completely distracted. Rose took this opportunity to sneak inside.

"We're all counting on you, Rose," said Alya. "It's all up to you. Code purple!"

Rose saw three levers in front of her: a green one, a red one, and a purple one.

"Did Alya say the purple one?" wondered Rose. "Or was it the red one? Or was it any of these at all? Oh, no."

Rose's hand shakily hovered over each lever, struggling to remember which was the correct one. She closed her eyes, reached out, and pulled whichever she grabbed. In the center of the lake, the water fountain sprung to life. Rose celebrated to herself for picking the right one.

However, Marinette and Luka were positioned right underneath one of the streams' paths and got drenched. Marinette was thoroughly humiliated and was ready to apologize profusely when she heard Luka's soft, delightful laughter. It was contagious and made Marinette laugh as well.

"This was a mistake," said Marinette after their laughter died down.

"I don't think that," said Luka, pushing water and cherry blossom petals out of their boat. "I've had lots of fun."

Across the lake were Adrien and Madison's boat. Adrien was enjoying the scenery.

"This is very relaxing," said Adrien. "Don't you agree?"

Madison nodded, distracted until she saw Kim in a boat with his friend Ondine.

"No," said Madison. "So I guess they're already in a relationship, and she didn't even need magic to do it!"

She took off her amulet and felt it become useless right before her very eyes. That was when the window in Papillon's lair opened like the shutter of a camera.

"Love is the ultimate motivator," said Papillon as he clutched a butterfly in his hands. "Go my little akuma and teach this girl that her love won't stay unrequited for long."

The butterfly flew through the window and towards the lake. The butterfly attached itself to Madison's amulet, but Chloé's boat crashed into hers, making her drop it into the water.

"That was really expensive," wailed Madison. "My mother will be so mad if I lose it!"

To Adrien's surprise, Madison dove into the water to retrieve it. Underwater, Madison reached for the amulet, grasping it firmly in her hands. People were panicking above after seeing her jump into the water. Bubbles formed on the surface and then Madison rose from the lake as the supervillain Aphrodite, a statuesque beauty with Rapunzel-like hair and a flowing, bejeweled robe.

"La vie en rose!" shouted Aphrodite.

On Luka's face appeared a pair of rose-colored glasses. His vision was no longer at the lake; he was at a concert.

"It's my favorite band," said Luka. "They're asking me to join them."

Luka stepped up on the imaginary stage but in the real world he was stepping out of his boat, falling into the water.

"Somebody help!" shouted Marinette.

"Come on, Kim!" said Adrien as he dove into the water with Kim following suit.

Adrien and Kim came back up to the surface and brought Luka with them. Adrien swam to the lakeshore, laying Luka down to breathe. Marinette pedalled her swan boat to the shore and got off.

"What's wrong with him?" said Adrien as Luka was muttering incoherently about a band.

"It's the glasses," said Marinette. "It makes people see what they most desire, but they get themselves into danger trying to reach for it."

Aphrodite was continuing her rampage with the other tourists. People walked into walls and traffic. The cars were swerving to avoid hitting the victims.

"It's Madison," said Marinette to Kim. "She's doing this because she has a crush on you, but she saw you with Ondine and got jealous."

"Not again," said Kim. "I don't even know her."

"We should all get to safety," said Adrien. "Kim, help me take Luka somewhere he won't hurt himself."

As Kim and Adrien left, Marinette ran behind a building and let Tikki out of her purse.

"Tikki," said Marinette. "Yet another girl I tried to help got akumatized. I'm really bad at this."

"It's not your fault," said Tikki. "Emotions are really hard to control."

"Let's fix this mess before it gets even worse," said Marinette. "Transforme-moi!"

In the comic book shop, Seline, Timothée and Gérard were thumbing through comic books.

"Look at this one," said Gérard.

"Look at that!" said Timothée, pointing at the stumbling tourists.

"We can't rest for a single moment," said Seline. "Whatever. Let's find a bathroom to transform or something. They're probably empty."

The three of them picked their own restroom stall to transform then opened a window to jump into the action. Tigresse Blanche, Léopard, and Lion caught up with the three other heroes already engaged in combat. Rena Rouge and Chat Noir simultaneously attacked Aphrodite with their staves and they jumped out of the way when Ladybug hurled her yo-yo at her, wrapping the yo-yo string around Aphrodite and restraining her arms to her sides.

"Let me guess," said Tigresse Blanche. "Her akumatized object is that glowing thing around her neck, right? Okay, I've got this."

Tigresse Blanche pounced on Aphrodite, slicing at the necklace with her claws. The necklace remained intact, so she tried pulling it apart but still no luck.

"It won't break!" said Tigresse Blanche as Aphrodite pushed her off.

Aphrodite freed herself from Ladybug's yo-yo and all the superheroes jumped away to avoid her spell.

"This isn't working," said Rena Rouge. "We've already tried all we can. There must be something else we can do."

"Leave that to me," announced Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air, seeing it fall into her hands as a fishing rod.

"A fishing rod?" said Ladybug. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Maybe you're supposed to use it on me," said Chat Noir. "Because I'm such a great catch."

Ladybug looked around for anything useful but all she saw were the superheroes standing around her.

"That's it!" said Ladybug. "I know what we have to do but we all have to work together."

"Work together?" echoed Seline, slightly confused. "Okay..."

"Yes," said Ladybug. "Now, listen."

As Ladybug filled them in on what they had to do, Aphrodite was scouring the streets for her one true love.

"Mirage," said Rena Rouge, playing a melody on her flute.

"Aphrodite, my love," said a voice.

Aphrodite searched for the source of that voice, seeing that it was her beloved Kim dressed as a Greek god.

"It is I, Hephaestus," said Kim. "I have no one else in my heart except for you."

"Hephaestus," said Aphrodite, teary-eyed. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that."

As Aphrodite stepped closer and closer towards this vision, Ladybug was waiting for just the right moment to strike. When Aphrodite was in her sights, she gave the signal to Team Panthera.

"Cœur de glace!" said Léopard, summoning a cluster of ice shards to rain down from the sky.

"Power of Ra!" said Lion as he punched at the shards of ice with his brass knuckles, instantaneously melting it into water and sending it rushing towards Aphrodite.

"Magie noire!" said Tigresse Blanche as a giant black orb developed around Aphrodite and a similar, smaller orb developed around her hand.

Tigresse Blanche squeezed the inside of the black orb around her hand at the same time that the water from Léopard's ice shards entered Aphrodite's orb. The gravity inside the orb increased in the center, holding the water in place around Aphrodite, entrapping the supervillain in a dome full of water.

"Get ready, Chat Noir," said Ladybug.

"Cataclysme!" said Chat Noir, creating unstable energy in the palm of his hand.

Ladybug wound her arm back and snapped the fishing rod at Aphrodite. The gravitational pull of the orb brought the hook directly to the love amulet. Aphrodite struggled against the hook, but the amulet slid right over her head.

"Chat Noir, catch!" shouted Ladybug.

The amulet went flying as it escaped the water orb and Chat Noir used his staff to jump high and catch it. It disintegrated the second it touched his hand and a purple butterfly fluttered out.

"You've done enough harm, little akuma," said Ladybug. "I'm freeing you from evil!"

She snatched the butterfly with her yo-yo.

"Je t'ai eu!" said Ladybug before releasing the now-purified butterfly into the sky. "Bye-bye, petit papillon. Miraculous Ladybug!"

A wave of ladybug essence washed over the city, repairing all the damage. Seline let go of her Magie noire, making the water from within the orb flood out into the street's storm drains. Out of this water appeared Madison, drenched from head to toe.

"Bien joué," said Ladybug and Chat Noir while fist bumping.

"Where am I?" asked Madison. "What happened?"

Kim and Ondine approached Madison together.

"Madison?" said Ondine. "I heard you had a crush on Kim."

"Oh," said Madison. "No, no, no! I'm not trying to steal—"

"It's okay," said Ondine. "But it's not healthy to obsess over someone. Kim and I were in your shoes before."

While Ondine talked things over with Madison, Kim took this opportunity to talk to the heroes.

"Thanks, Ladybug and Chat Noir," said Kim. "And the rest of you."

"We were just doing our job," said Ladybug. "Is Luka okay?"

"Yeah, he stopped trying to perform with an imaginary band a short while ago," said Kim. "How did you know that?"

"Uh, because I saw you on my way here, of course!" said Ladybug very nervously. "Anyway, we're all going to de-transform soon, so it's time for us to go. Bye!"

Chat Noir and Rena Rouge both left. As Ladybug got ready to leave, she noticed Tigresse Blanche, Léopard and Lion bickering amongst themselves.

"Hurry up already," hissed Lion.

"Why do I have to do it?" protested Tigresse Blanche.

"Because you're very remorseful, remember?" snarked Léopard through gritted teeth.

"What are you guys talking about?" said Ladybug, catching the three heroes by surprise.

Léopard and Lion comically pushed Tigresse Blanche to the forefront, Ladybug being mildly amused by their little show.

"Hey, Ladybug," she said, scratching the back of her head nervously. "We're… friends, right?"

Ladybug arched her left eyebrow, trying to hide the disbelief plastered on her face.

"Sure," said Ladybug slowly. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"We thought you'd never ask," said Léopard. "Well, we need your help with a stealth mission."

"Okay," replied Ladybug. "Where is it?"

"It's… uh," started Tigresse Blanche.

"It's in the Agreste mansion," said Lion.

"Excuse me?!" blurted out Ladybug, incapable of hiding the shock in her expression any longer. What were these three up to now?


	10. Sparroween

A/N: We're baaaaack… and happy to present the suspenseful, action-packed tenth chapter of Miraculous Tails as well as the spooky debut to our new fic, Salazar's Revenge: An Ilvermorny Mystery! You can find it through our profile or the Harry Potter section. We've been writing here for more than two months now and we just keep getting stronger as writers thanks to all the feedback we receive. Anyway, we wish everyone a happy Halloween... or should we say Sparroween?

Summary: **Mayura takes the reins from Papillon, creating the sentimonster Sparroween as Marinette and friends are possessed by their Halloween costumes.**

* * *

Ladybug could still feel the adrenaline rush from defeating Aphrodite, and now Tigresse Blanche's preposition was making her head spin.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" asked Ladybug. "Have you thought about the consequences of going into the Agreste mansion?"

"Yes," said Lion. "We have since… we've already failed."

Ladybug wrestled mentally with the idea of trespassing on someone's property, especially because it was Adrien's.

"I suppose you think Papillon lives there," said Ladybug sternly.

"We're not accusing anyone," said Tigresse Blanche. "We just have our suspicions that something valuable is in there—like, kwami kind of valuable."

Ladybug gasped, having an inkling that she knew exactly which kwami she was talking about. She weighed the pros and cons of this plan in her head: she could help a helpless kwami return to Master Fu's care or the plan could go horribly wrong and the Agreste family would hold a vendetta against "Ladybug" for being a thief.

"This is incredibly dangerous," said Ladybug. "But I'll do it."

"Great," said Léopard. "We meet at the Agreste mansion at midnight."

The four heroes went their separate ways before they de-transformed. Ladybug hid behind a building to turn back into Marinette out of sight. Tikki warped out of Marinette's earrings.

"Tikki," said Marinette. "We have a lot to talk about when we get home."

Marinette hid Tikki in her pink, floral purse. She raced around the lake with the swan boats until she reached the road and caught the school bus. She hopped in right as the door closed, trying her best to look nonchalant while getting to her seat.

"That should be everyone," said Madame Bustier to the bus driver. "We may go now."

The school bus brought the kids back to Collége Françoise Dupont. One by one, the students got off the bus to either walk or get a ride home. Marinette was ready to start her walk home when a white limousine pulled up next to her. The window rolled down to reveal Adrien in the backseat.

"Hey, Marinette," said Adrien. "Do you have a ride? If you don't, you can come with me."

Marinette's heart almost stopped. She couldn't believe that Adrien was offering her a ride home.

"I would love to go with you," said Marinette.

Marinette did victory laps in her mind. She actually completed a sentence in front of Adrien, and now she was going to spend alone time with him. Adrien opened the car door and slid over to the next seat to allow Marinette to sit.

"So," said Adrien. "Your friend Madison was nice."

"I know," replied Marinette. "I feel sorry about her situation with Kim, especially since I've been there before."

"Really?" wondered Adrien. "With who?"

Marinette felt the full weight of her foot in her mouth.

"I, uh," started Marinette. "You know, like, when we're young, we always have a little crush at school. That's what I meant."

"Oh," said Adrien. "Yeah, I've been there too."

"With who?" said Marinette, face turning white.

"That's a little personal," chuckled Adrien. "And it looks like we're here."

Marinette saw they were parked in front of chez Dupain-Cheng.

"Thanks for the ride, Adrien," she said. "I really appreciate it."

"Thank you, Marinette," he replied. "I'd do anything for a friend. Have a great night."

Marinette just smiled in return as she saw the Agreste limousine drive away. Then a feeling of guilt set in when she thought about the plan for tonight.

Inside her bedroom, Marinette slumped onto her bed. That was when she remembered the important news she had to share with Tikki. She opened her purse to let Tikki fly out.

"Tikki," said Marinette. "I have to work double time tonight. I have a mission later."

"Really?" said Tikki, pretending not to know about the plan to save Nooroo. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to infiltrate the Agreste mansion with Tigresse Blanche and her crew," said Marinette. "A part of me feels like I'm betraying Adrien. Maybe I should tell Master Fu."

"No, don't do that!" said Tikki, shocking Marinette. "I mean… you don't want to worry him over something that might not be important."

Marinette got up from her bed to look at herself in the mirror. She was a bit disheveled from today's fight but otherwise looked presentable.

"I better take a nap right now if I want to feel recharged for the mission," said Marinette.

Almost as quickly as Marinette felt her head rest on her pillow, she heard her phone's alarm go off.

"I'm awake!" she said, then whispering. "Oh, right. Tikki, transforme-moi!"

Ladybug swung into the night sky, doing her best to stay out of sight until she finally landed on the Agreste mansion roof, waiting for the other heroes.

"Hi," said a female voice from behind.

A startled Ladybug turned to find Tigresse Blanche, Léopard and Lion standing behind her.

"What up, Ladybug?" asked Léopard.

"I was waiting for you guys!" huffed Ladybug.

"We were here first, though," teased Lion.

Adrien and Gabriel were in their respective rooms sleeping soundly. With her claws, Tigresse Blanche undid the screws on an air vent leading from the roof into the main entrance and pulled the grill out to allow them to enter.

Ladybug was the first to climb in and crawl to the other end. She kicked the grill out on this end, catching it with her yo-yo, and placing it down gently inside the vent. They all slid down Ladybug's yo-yo, using it as a rope.

"Everyone," whispered Ladybug as she heard footsteps. "Jump really high!"

They all did as she said. Ladybug joined in the jumping, flicking her yo-yo against the wall. It ricocheted, hooking around the rigid light fixtures until it returned to Ladybug. They all grabbed onto the taut string, leaving them hanging like Christmas ornaments.

Nathalie groggily entered the room, walking towards the kitchen. Once the coast was clear, they all dropped down and headed for Gabriel Agreste's office. Tigresse Blanche slowly opened the door. The golden painting sat exactly where it was the last time they saw it.

"Lucky Charm!" whispered Ladybug.

The yo-yo transformed into some leaves of red paper with black polka dots held together by a paperclip.

"This will come in handy later," said Ladybug to her confused teammates. "I promise."

They carefully swiveled the golden painting on its hinges. Behind it, the hard metallic vault they had seen before came into view.

"This is it," said Tigresse Blanche. "Let's see if we can get it open. Magie—"

"Wait!" said Ladybug. "Do you know if this has an alarm system?"

Tigresse Blanche's cheeks went red. Of course they would have an alarm. It was so obvious now that Ladybug mentioned it.

"No," said Tigresse Blanche as she crossed her arms. "But I've kind of been working on adrenaline so far, so it's not my fault."

"I think that's what this is for," said Ladybug, gesturing towards her papers.

She took the paperclip off the paper and straightened out the bends. With surgical precision, she used it to poke at a tiny button located near the bottom of the vault door. The power to the vault was turned off.

"Okay," she said. "Now go."

"Magie noire!" whispered Tigresse Blanche.

Two black orbs appeared, one around the vault lock set and one around her hand. She gently squeezed the inside of the black orb with her fingertips and heard the click of the vault door unlocking—it was the butterfly Miraculous!

"Let's take it and run," said Léopard, grabbing the Miraculous.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" whispered Ladybug.

The rush of Ladybug essence closed the vault shut and restored its power. Our heroes surreptitiously regrouped on the roof.

"We couldn't have done this without you," said Tigresse Blanche as she approached Ladybug. "You should be the one to return it to Master Fu."

"Thank you for trusting me, Tigresse," said Ladybug. "I really appreciate it."

Ladybug and Team Panthera smiled at one another genuinely for the first time. Working together felt… natural?

The next morning, Marinette entered the classroom yawning and rubbing her eyes, exhausted from staying up so late. She noticed Seline, Timothée and Gérard looking tired as well. "If they only knew what I was up to last night," she thought.

"Are you excited for Halloween?" asked Alya.

"Absolutely," said Marinette as she settled into her seat next to Alya. "I love the crisp air, and the pumpkin pies. My dad is even making a jack-o'-lantern! Oh, and I can't wait to see everyone's costumes."

"Well, our costumes are going to blow everyone out of the water," bragged Chloé. "No one's gonna see it coming. Right, Sabrina?"

"Absolutely," chirped Sabrina.

"My costume is someone super cool," said Nino. "Let's just say... he loves tacos."

The kids all laughed at Nino's silly hint.

"So, you're saying you're going to be a big taco for Halloween?" joked Alya. "And what about you, Adrien?"

"I'm not telling," said Adrien, crossing his arms playfully.

"Oh, come on," she pressed further. "Not even a tiny little hint?"

"Okay," said Adrien. "I'll say this: 'in brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight.' That's it. That's the hint."

"That sounds so familiar," said Marinette. "It's like a... superhero, right?"

"You'll figure it out when we go trick-or-treating," said Adrien. "Last but not least, what about you Marinette?"

"Pink is my favorite color," she said cheekily. "And that's all you're getting from me!"

The kids all laughed once more, but there was a sneaking anxiety in the back of Marinette's mind. Have Adrien or his father noticed there was something missing from their home?

Meanwhile at the Agreste mansion, there was a thick, anxious atmosphere in the air. Gabriel Agreste was turning his mansion inside out in the desperate search for his Miraculous to no avail.

"How could this happen!?" bellowed Gabriel. "Nathalie, come in here."

"Yes, sir?" said Nathalie.

"Did you hear anything last night?" asked Gabriel.

"Not a single footstep," responded Nathalie.

Gabriel searched every square inch of the vault one more time but he wasn't mistaken. Someone had taken his only source of power—the butterfly Miraculous.

"This is highly unusual," said Gabriel. "We should keep a closer eye on everyone who has stepped inside this house."

Nathalie saw Gabriel lose himself in the idea of anyone, possibly even Ladybug, being able to infiltrate his home, being able to… expose him.

"Agreed," was the only thing Nathalie could think to say at that moment.

"Since my Miraculous is nowhere to be found," he started, growing paranoid. "I have a sneaking suspicion that it was stolen. Since I can't perform my duties as Papillon, you will have to take my place in the battle against Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"When do you plan on enacting your revenge?" said Nathalie.

"Tonight," said Gabriel, his slightly unhinged chuckle unnerving Nathalie. "Do what you must... Mayura."

Gabriel retrieved the peacock Miraculous from the vault, handing it to Nathalie.

"I won't disappoint you, Gabriel," she said, smiling halfheartedly.

The sunset marked the beginning of the Halloween celebration. Children from infancy to young teenagers were dressed up for the occasion and even their parents took part in the festivities. Marinette and friends all showed up at their agreed spot on the sidewalk.

"I guess we should all introduce ourselves," said Adrien. "'In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my light. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power: Green Lantern's light!' I'm Green Lantern, of course. How about you, Marinette?"

"Go Go Power Rangers!" sang Marinette. "I'm the Pink Power Ranger. She's an influential female fighter of evil. She's one of the reasons I became a superheroine."

"You're a superheroine?" giggled Alya, making Marinette realize her mistake.

"I mean she makes me feel like a superheroine," rushed Marinette awkwardly. "You know, like an everyday hero that does simple things to make the world a better place. I don't have superpowers and I'm not a superheroine. That would be crazy! Could someone else please go, already?"

Chloé and Sabrina had on typical Japanese schoolgirl outfits with wigs, Chloé wearing a blonde wig with short pigtails and Sabrina wearing a long blue wig topped with a red bow. They struck a confident pose consisting of a side lunge. Chloé lunged to her left, and behind her, Sabrina lunged to her right.

"Let's pop together, Pop Team Epic!" announced Chloé and Sabrina dressed as Popuku and Pipimi, respectively.

"Pop Team Epic?" said Alya. "I've never heard of it."

"It's a cartoon where these two girls take on the world," said Chloé. "They are as versatile as we are. You're too lame to know about them."

"I guess it's my turn," said Alya clad in a yellow dress with white gloves and an orange bob wig topped with a similarly yellow hat. "'In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. The smallest one was Madeline.' I loved Madeline when I was in primary school. Nino, you're next."

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Nino, his voice muffled through his red mask. "I'm Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth!"

Right then, Marinette and friends turned when they heard the saw synth intro to the Mortal Kombat theme song, "Techno Syndrome," playing from someone's phone.

"Make way for our deadly alliance," said Seline, brandishing her war fans as the song continued playing from her phone. Her skin was covered in gray body paint, her hair styled into double buns, and her costume was an impressive navy-colored ninja tunic. "I'm Kitana, and here are my companions."

"Toasty," squealed Gérard in his yellow ninja tunic. "You may call me Scorpion, mortals!"

"For the Lin Kuei," declared Timothée in his blue ninja tunic. "The name's Sub-Zero, and I'm here to give you guys the cold shoulder!"

All the kids laughed at Seline and her cousins' dramatic entrance.

"Alright then, guys," said Marinette. "Now that we've all introduced each other, let's start trick-or-treating!"

The only person not in the Halloween spirit was a grumpy old man named Monsieur Belmont. He was a curmudgeonly man whose house was completely devoid of decorations. This didn't stop kids from going to his house for candy.

Small children dressed as a skeleton, a witch, and a mummy giggled as they clambered up the steps to Monsieur Belmont's house. They rang the doorbell and awaited their candy. Monsieur Belmont opened his window curtain, frowning when he saw the trick-or-treaters. He yanked the door open to give the little monsters a piece of his mind.

"Get away from here, you stinkin' kids!" shouted Monsieur Belmont. "Kids these days have no respect for their elders."

The children ran away laughing to the next house, unbothered by the grumpy old man.

"I swear," said Monsieur Belmont. "Year after year, I tell them I have no candy and yet they keep coming. I never want to be reminded of this horrible holiday."

Standing on Monsieur Belmont's rooftop was what looked like the statue of a blue-colored woman holding a feather fan in front of her face. However, it was no statue—it was Mayura hiding in plain sight, plucking a feather from her fan.

"Fly away, beautiful amok," said Mayura as she blew the feather away. "Make use of this man's rage to show these trick-or-treaters what true horror looks like."

The purple feather fused with Monsieur Belmont's monocle eyeglass. Out of thin air appeared Sparroween, a frightening avian sentimonster. Its feathers molted and fell gracefully from the sky like the red, yellow, and brown leaves from Autumn trees. Monsieur Belmont ran into his house, seeking shelter.

After the summoning of Sparroween, Marinette and her friends felt themselves morph into something else. Marinette held her head in her hands. It felt like her Pink Power Ranger helmet was becoming part of her. The headache subsided and she surveyed her surroundings for any clue to what happened.

"Excuse me, sir," said Marinette. "Can you explain to me how I got here?"

"Not now, you crazy Ladybug," said Nino, adding a certain grit to his voice as Deadpool. "I'm trying to figure out where I am, but I can't quite put my finger on it…"

He said this while staring pensively at the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

"Ladybug?" asked a shocked Marinette. "I'm not a ladybug."

"Riiiiight," jeered Nino. "Look, we all know you look just like Ladybug. Give it a rest, will ya?"

"No, I mean I'm the Pink Power Ranger," said Marinette. "Like, from the Power Rangers."

As this conversation was taking place, a platform the size of a bullfighting arena materialized in the sky.

"What is that?" asked Alya, speaking in a high-pitched voice as Madeline. "Pepito will be so jealous that I saw something as incredible as this."

Sparroween dove into the crowd of children and carried them on its wings, flying high into the air. It dropped them onto the floating platform as a transparent orange dome trapped them inside. All the children were now stuck with the monster. Up on the Monsieur Belmont's roof, Mayura grew impatient.

"Why in the world is Ladybug not here, yet?" growled Mayura through gritted teeth.

Back inside the dome:

"Hey!" complained Popuko-Chloé.

"Yeah," added Pipimi-Sabrina. "What's the big idea, buddy? What're we doing here?"

"We probably have to fight that thing," said Green Lantern Adrien, pointing at the massive sparrow flying above them.

On Monsieur Belmont's television, this spectacle was brought to him in full high-definition. A dignified woman in a business suit stood in front of the camera.

"This is Nadja Chamack reporting from TVi News," she announced. "What you are seeing right now is some sort of unidentified flying object, and as you can see, children are trapped inside with a giant monster."

The camera zoomed in on Sparroween, it's monstrous visage filling Monsieur Belmont's television screen.

"Did I have something to do with that?" he asked himself. "Oh, I never wanted this to happen."

Sparroween flapped its wings in the kids' direction, blowing them back with a powerful gust. People went tumbling backwards until Adrien conjured a green force field from his Green Lantern ring, causing Sparroween to stop his wind attack.

"Everyone!" called Marinette. "This monster is too big for any one of us to beat him on our own, but if we work together, we can defeat it. Are you with me?"

The assorted characters cheered and charged at the sentimonster. Marinette retrieved her Power Ranger bow and arrow out of thin air, aiming at Sparroween. The arrow pierced through its wing and created a huge firework explosion, but the sentimonster remained unharmed.

Adrien used his ring to summon a giant toy hammer made of green energy, squeaking as it bopped Sparroween on its head. The sentimonster kept recovering from his injuries.

"Onward, Pipimi!" commanded Chloé while standing on Sabrina's palm who was suddenly the size of a two-story building.

Sabrina casually lumbered over to Sparroween past all the fighting characters.

"Are you upset?" bellowed Sabrina as she landed a powerful punch on Sparroween.

Nino launched himself into the air acrobatically at the sentimonster with his katanas at the ready. Sparroween swerved out of the way.

"Chimichangas!" yelled Nino as he crashed into the dome wall.

Alya levitated using her parasol, coming face to face with Sparroween.

"Good evening, Monsieur Birdie," she cooed. "Would you like to see my figure skating moves? I've been practicing very hard!"

Alya extended one leg out and spun in place quickly, kicking Sparroween in the face with each spin. This made it mad, and from its body a flock of birds burst forth to fight alongside it.

"All hail Kitana Kahn!" screamed Seline.

She tossed her war fans at the small birds, but the second they touched the blades, they dissipated into a cloud of feathers. The war fans boomeranged back into her hands.

"Ignore the tiny birds," she warned her friends. "They're weak. Focus on the big one."

Alya ignored this advice and fought them anyway.

"En garde, tiny birdies!" said Alya while spearing the birds with her parasol as though she were fencing.

Seline spun her war fans while facing Sparroween, causing it to become stunned in the air. Gérard propelled his fiery chain link kunai at Sparroween, wrapping around the sentimonster's midsection.

"Get over here!" shouted Gérard as he pulled Sparroween towards him.

While Sparroween was being pulled, Timothée took the opportunity to blast Sparroween with his Sub-Zero ice powers, freezing it completely. He jumped into a forceful drop kick, pushing Sparroween to the ground and shattering the ice but Sparroween emerged unscathed. Timothée grabbed the sentimonster's head.

"Extreme Fatali-!" shouted Timothée.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" interrupted Nino. "We're trying to keep this chapter under PG-13 and all these references are already pushing it, Frosty the Snowman."

Annoyed, Timothée groaned while he let go of Sparroween.

"Are you ready, Popuko?" asked Sabrina.

"I've been waiting for this my whole life, Pipimi," said Chloé as a teardrop ran down her cheek.

"Synthesize!" they said as they became a golden, Super Saiyan-esque fusion. "It's-a me! Hegemony Dynamic!"

They flew towards Sparroween as it tried to stop their attack by blasting a laser beam from its mouth at them but it didn't work. Nothing could stop them. As the fused Chloé and Sabrina flew through Sparroween, they all became engulfed in a giant explosion. Once the mushroom cloud subsided, the characters could see that Sparroween was still up but staggered. Marinette saw this as her opportunity to finish the fight.

"Everybody, duck!" she shouted. "Pterodactyl Dinozord Power!"

Power Ranger Marinette summoned her Dinozord—a giant, pink, flying vehicle similar to a jet plane—which came crashing into the dome, striking Sparroween in the chest.

"We did it!" cried Marinette to thunderous cheers.

Back at her stalk, all Mayura could do was growl in frustration: her plan was thwarted.

"You were useless, Sparroween," said Mayura. "This was a disastrous failure. I won't let you embarrass me any further."

Mayura snapped her fingers, causing both Sparroween and the dome to dissipate into a purple cloud. Marinette and friends were suddenly plummeting to their doom, but thanks to their costume superpowers, they each landed safely in their own way:

Marinette was caught by her Pterodactyl Dinozord, flying her gently onto the road; Gérard shot his roped spear at Marinette's Zord and pulled himself aboard to descend with her; Seline rotated her war fans against the ground to slow down her momentum; Timothée slid on a track he made out of ice; Chloé and Sabrina rode a minecart down the ice track that Timothée made, hopping off before it crashed on the ground; and Adrien simply flew down with his Green Lantern ring raised high.

Alya was the last to reach the ground, gently gliding with her open parasol like Mary Poppins while Nino held onto her for dear life.

"We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all—" started Alya.

At that moment, a colorful aura enveloped the kids before they reverted back to their normal personalities.

"Uh," wondered a confused Alya aloud. "What was I saying?"

"I feel weird," said Marinette, herself feeling a little nauseous. "Does anybody remember what happened?"

"We were trick-or-treating," said Adrien, taking a cue from seeing everyone's costumes. "Maybe we blacked out with all the candy we were eating."

Marinette noticed the formerly grumpy Monsieur Belmont looking wistfully at the trick-or-treaters from across the street.

"Monsieur Belmont?" said Marinette as she walked over to him with Alya in tow. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," said Monsieur Belmont sadly. "It's just that my parents forbade me from going to Halloween when I was a child. I was the only one who wasn't allowed to go, and now I'm too old. I'm afraid I may never know what it's like to celebrate Halloween."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Alya.

"I'm way ahead of you," said Marinette.

The two girls looked around for whatever they could use in their surroundings. They grabbed a black tablecloth, borrowed someone's hair gel, took their own makeup, and found some candy corn. They used the gel to slick down Monsieur Belmont's hair, wrapped the tablecloth around his shoulders like a cape, patted his face with white makeup powder and stuck two pieces of candy corn onto his teeth to make fangs.

"There," said Marinette cheerfully. "You're gonna go trick-or-treating with us as a vampire named… Alucard."

Marinette held a compact mirror up to Monsieur Belmont's face. He was impressed by the quality of their work.

Marinette handed him a trick-or-treating bag and went door to door, collecting candy with all her friends. Monsieur Belmont couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

"Thank you for this, Marinette," he told her in private. "I haven't felt like this since I was a boy."

"It was our pleasure," said Marinette, accompanied by her friends nodding behind her.

"That was really cool of you, Marinette," said Adrien.

"Are you ready to go for another round, Monsieur Belmont?" asked Nino.

"You bet!" said Monsieur Belmont. "Let's get more candy than all the other kids!"

After having one of the craziest nights of her life, Marinette barged into Master Fu's massage parlor.

"Master Fu!" said Marinette, holding her Power Ranger helmet in her hands. "Something crazy happened. I can't remember much, but I think everyone turned into monsters, and we were really high up in the sky, and I was fighting something, but I can't remember what—"

Master Fu calmly rose from the ground with a look of disappointment in his face.

"I have the answer to all your questions," interrupted Master Fu. "Tonight was Halloween, a holiday where the walls splitting the mortal realm and the magical realm are weakened. Adding the sentimonster into the mix had the adverse effect of transforming everyone into their costumes."

Marinette felt herself relax as certain bits of her memories kept coming back to her.

"And what about Nooroo?" asked Marinette. "Has he told you anything about Papillon?"

"Nooroo refuses to speak," sighed Master Fu. "He said he's afraid of being recaptured and questioned about whether or not he's revealed Papillon's identity. He's not a good liar, so he wants to be able to tell the truth when that happens. He's still very fearful of Papillon even though there's no reason for him to feel like that anymore."

"Poor guy," said Marinette. "I understand how he must feel, but I want to let him know we will defeat Papillon before he can hurt anyone else."

"That's very brave of you to say, Marinette," said Master Fu. "But maybe we should allow Nooroo to process his feelings in his own time."

"I understand," said Marinette.

Marinette and Master Fu looked to the Miracle Box, wondering what Nooroo and the other kwamis might be talking about.


	11. El Tutoro

Summary: **Marinette and friends have a difficult time in their Spanish class when their teacher's textbook is turned into the matador sentimonster, El Tutoro.**

Main heroes:

Marinette as Ladybug

Adrien as Chat Noir

Alya as Rena Rouge

Seline as Tigresse Blanche

Featuring:

Kagami as Ryuko

* * *

Tikki rocked on Marinette's bed, clutching her aching stomach. It was the morning after Halloween in Marinette's overwhelmingly pink room. However, it had dashes of orange due to the Halloween decorations that were still up, like cute pumpkins and toy scarecrows. Marinette was at her vanity mirror, trying to brush her messy hair into its usual, silky look.

"Will this sweet, sugary pain ever end?" asked Tikki.

"I told you not to eat all that candy at once," teased Marinette as she pulled her brush through a knot. "I loved being the Pink Power Ranger, but next Halloween, I should pick a costume that doesn't give me helmet hair. How was I supposed to know I was going to fight a monster in it?"

"You have to expect the unexpected," said Tikki before groaning from the pain of her stomachache.

Marinette rummaged through her purse in search of a certain chewable. She pulled out a red gummy in the shape of a raspberry and broke off a small piece. She handed it to Tikki, but Tikki pushed it away.

"Here," said Marinette. "Take this."

"No more candy," mumbled Tikki.

"It's not candy," said Marinette. "It's medicine. Take it."

Tikki reluctantly ate it. Once she tasted the sweet gummy, her stomachache dwindled until it was gone.

"Mm!" said Tikki. "Delicious, and my tummy doesn't hurt anymore!"

"I've been meaning to ask you," said Marinette shyly. "How is Nooroo? Did he tell you who Papillon is?"

Tikki's smile from the pain relief sunk into a frown. She scratched her head, trying to find the words to describe the situation.

"Being in the clutches of evil has changed him," said Tikki. "He still won't tell anyone about what he went through. He's completely shut off."

Marinette hugged Tikki, feeling like she's made so much progress yet hasn't gotten anywhere at all. An alarm went off.

"I have to go to school," said Marinette, pulling away from the hug. "I forgot we have another showcase tonight!"

The tension hanging in the air at the Agreste mansion was overbearing. The only two people in the house were Gabriel and Nathalie conversing in the atelier.

"Last night was a complete failure, Nathalie," said Gabriel.

"My apologies, sir," said Nathalie, averting his gaze. "I tried making as big a spectacle as I could, but Ladybug was nowhere to be found."

"That was not your fault," said Gabriel. "It's even possible that Ladybug was one of the ones caught by Sparroween. No matter."

Gabriel opened his desk drawer and retrieved a fancy piece of stationery and a pen. He handed them to Nathalie.

"I have business to attend to," said Gabriel. "I need you to write an invitation for an aspiring fashion designer that I've been keeping my eye on."

"And who does this aspiring fashion designer happen to be?" asked Nathalie.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," said Gabriel. "She's one of Adrien's friends. Her work is rather inspired for someone so young."

Nathalie grimaced, trying to hide her disdain for this so-called talented girl. It hurt Nathalie to hear Gabriel say anything kind about someone other than herself.

"I suppose," said Nathalie, pretending to agree. "I will be right on it. Is there anything in particular you would like for me to write to her?"

"Yes," responded Gabriel after a pause. "But first..."

Gabriel approached his vault, zeroing in on the Peacock Miraculous that Nathalie had put back.

"We have to cause some more trouble before we leave," he continued menacingly. "Here."

Gabriel handed Nathalie the blue Miraculous, its surface shining in the morning light.

"I won't disappoint you this time, sir," said Nathalie.

Gabriel helped Nathalie to fasten the Peacock Miraculous on her person. Nathalie felt Gabriel give her a look of admiration.

Meanwhile, a client was on the massage table at Master Fu's apartment. The client was a brown-haired man in his thirties bogged by years of menial labour. Master Fu had a gramophone playing a vinyl record of relaxing nature sounds. Currently playing was a track of ocean waves crashing against the shore.

"I learned these advanced massage techniques in China," said Master Fu. "So they are guaranteed to make you relax."

"If you say so," said the client.

Master Fu began massaging him when the gramophone hiding the Miracle Box started shaking. The clacking of the wooden box was getting distracting, so Master Fu turned up the volume on the gramophone.

"Let the calm, tropical waves soothe your soul," said Master Fu, trying to speak over the sound of the shaking Miracle Box.

The shaking became so violent that the needle scratched over to a track of birds squawking. Master Fu turned the timer until it dinged.

"Well, that's the end of our session," said Master Fu quickly.

He gently urged the client to leave as the gramophone behind him was shimmying off the edge of the dresser drawer. Once the client was gone, Master Fu ran to catch the gramophone before it could fall.

"I wonder what they're doing in there," he thought.

In the Miracle Box, the other kwamis were trying to goad Nooroo into talking about what he saw. He was so adamant to keep his secret that he was whizzing around the box to avoid them but they chased after him.

"Dearest Nooroo," huffed Pollen, the bee kwami. "The fate of the people of Paris is at stake! You must inform us of Papillon's true identity."

Nooroo made a sharp turn to confuse them. The kwamis crashed into one another as they tried stopping. They gave chase once again.

"I can't tell you anything!" said Nooroo, crestfallen. "You don't know Papillon's villainy like I do. If he finds out I told you his secret identity, he wouldn't hold back!"

"Have faith in Ladybug and her friends," said Longg, the dragon kwami. "They are going to do their best to keep you, and us, safe."

"That's what I'm doing as well," said Nooroo, coming to a stop and almost colliding with the other kwamis who stopped themselves just in time. "I'll be ready to say who he is when he's finally defeated."

On the sidewalk of the school, Marinette was on her way to class when she saw a girl who looked very similar to her. It was Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien's good friend. She was in full fencing gear.

"Kagami," called Marinette. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here for the talent showcase," said Kagami coldly.

"Really?" said Marinette. "That's so exciting! What are you guys showcasing?"

Kagami looked at Marinette sideways as though she wondered whether Marinette was worth talking to.

"Adrien and I are doing a choreographed fencing routine," said Kagami, making Marinette's heart break a little at the mention of her crush's name. "We will show everybody that the art of fencing is similar to a beautiful dance."

"Great," said Marinette, suddenly feeling intimidated. "I hope you do well!"

"I always do," said Kagami.

Marinette walked up the steps of her school, trying not to look jealous or angry. She stopped when she saw Luka sitting on the handrail, guitar in hand, jotting down some notes in his notebook.

"Maybe this can lead into D minor," thought Luka aloud as he strummed a chord on his guitar. "Hmm..."

"Hey, Luka," said Marinette. "What are you up to?"

"Just adding the finishing touches to my song for the showcase," said Luka. "I'm trying something completely different."

"What is it?" asked Marinette, absorbed by this conversation.

"I know it's crazy and totally different from what I usually do," he said a little nervously. "But it's actually gonna be reggae with this, like, shuffle rhythm. It's called 'Drifting,' and it's about that dreamy, hazy feeling you get in the summertime when you're just hanging out with someone you… love."

Marinette's face felt flushed. Who could he be talking about?

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled after seeing Marinette's reaction. "It's kind of lame and embarrassing."

"No," responded Marinette. "I think it's really romantic. I can't wait to hear it!"

Luka smiled, jotting down some more notes. She didn't know what she did, but it seemed to inspire him.

"So you're gonna support me tonight?" asked Luka coyly.

"Of course, I will!" she chirped.

"Well," said Luka. "I guess I'll see you tonight, then."

"See ya," sighed Marinette, trying to contain herself.

Marinette passed through the front entrance of the school, feeling more peaceful. There was something about talking to Luka that always gave her a sense of comfort.

A white limousine pulled up against the curb. Inside were Adrien and Nathalie, who was glaring at Marinette as she walked into the school. Adrien went to open the car door, but Nathalie stopped him.

"Wait, Adrien," she said. "You know a girl named Marinette, right?"

"Yeah," said Adrien. "She's a friend."

"Then give this to her," said Nathalie. "It's from your father."

As Adrien took the envelope in his hands, he began to feel worried for Marinette. What did his father have in mind for her?

"Will do," said Adrien reluctantly.

After finally stepping out of the vehicle, Adrien shut the car door behind him and met up with Kagami. Nathalie eyed Marinette through one of the windows of the school talking to Alya. As she glared at Marinette, an idea popped into her head that she thought her boss Gabriel Agreste would be interested in.

During the study hall period, the dance team rehearsed "When I Grow Up" in the open-air gym. Marinette, Alya, Sabrina, Chloé, Seline and Gérard were hitting their marks on time, but their moves were still a little unpolished.

"This is coming along perfectly!" said Gérard. "We know the whole routine. All that's left to do is refine it."

"You've caught on to the choreography so quickly, Marinette," said Seline warmly. "We keep improving so much together."

"Thanks," said Marinette. "That means so much coming from you."

Marinette was confused by Seline's sudden turn for the better. She had been so aggressive to Marinette when they first met, but she's softened up little by little ever since.

"I think we did pretty great, too," interjected Chloé with Sabrina in tow. "Right, Sabrina?"

"You're right, Chloé," said Gérard. "Sabrina was great!"

"Thank you," replied Sabrina, trying her best not to giggle as Chloé's face turned from smug to annoyed.

"That'll be it for today, guys," continued Gérard. "The next class is starting up, which for some of us is Spanish class."

"Easy A," said Seline. "That's one of the perks of being Peruvian."

"Lucky for you," whined Marinette. "The teacher's gonna eat me alive."

The Spanish classroom was the same as the rest; each row of desks and seats was on a higher level than the previous. In the middle row sat Seline, her head held confidently high. The teacher—a Spaniard with wavy, black hair and tanned skin—stood at the front.

"Can anyone conjugate the word 'manejar' for me?" said the teacher.

"I can, Señor Castillo," said Seline. "Yo manejo, tú manejas, el maneja, nosotros manejamos, y ellos manejan."

"You forgot one," said Señor Castillo.

"Right," said Seline, feeling a little embarrassed. "Vosotros manejaís. We don't use that one back home."

Seline shrank back into her seat next to her cousin Gérard, who was chuckling at her. Ivan was scribbling rock music lyrics onto his sheet of paper when the teacher called him forward.

"Ivan," said Señor Castillo. "Come solve this problem on the board."

Ivan slouched out of his seat and lumbered down the steps to the front of the class. He picked up the marker for the smartboard.

"Can you translate the phrase, 'I like to swim,' for me?" asked Señor Castillo.

"Uh," said Ivan nervously, marker in hand. "Me gusta… ayer."

"No, no, no!" said Señor Castillo. "That's wrong, Ivan! Why is it so difficult for you guys to get this?"

Señor Castillo turned to look at the class, being met with awkward stares from his students.

Across the street on a rooftop was Mayura looking in through the window, pleasantly surprised by happening upon this scene. She plucked a feather from her fan.

"Fly away, beautiful amok," said Mayura. "Make use of this man's perfectionism to destroy this place and reveal Ladybug to me!"

She blew the feather away until it flew into the classroom through the window, attaching itself to the teacher's textbook. The textbook morphed into a haughty matador, full with a paper cape and shoulder pads made of textbook covers.

"Soy El Tutoro!" said the sentimonster, turning to Ivan. "Dime, niño. Cuántos libros hay?"

"Azúl?" said Ivan with a thick French accent.

"Incorrecto!" shouted El Tutoro as he held his cape out to the side.

A wild bull made of paper appeared from behind the cape and charged straight at the kids in class, crashing through the back wall. They all bolted out of the classroom screaming. Gérard hid under his desk to avoid getting hit by debris but a pile of rubble landed over him.

"Gérard!" screamed Seline.

"I'm fine," he said. "I just can't get out. Go and save the day!"

El Tutoro morphed his cape into a big paper airplane, making it fly through the adjacent wall to the outside. Seline and Marinette bumped into each other when they ran for the empty girls' restroom at the same time.

"I'm sorry," said Seline. "You go. I'll hide somewhere else."

Seline ran off to a different part of the school. Marinette waited until she could no longer hear Seline's footsteps to let Tikki fly out of her purse.

"I'm starting to like that Seline," said Tikki.

"I don't know why she's so nice now," said Marinette. "But I'm not going to question it. Transforme-moi!"

Ladybug swung into a nearby courtyard where El Tutoro was destroying public property. Chat Noir, Rena Rouge and Tigresse Blanche were already there, in the middle of fighting El Tutoro.

"Señora Zorra," said El Tutoro, pointing at Rena Rouge. "Qué es el color del zorro?"

"I don't know what you're saying!" responded Rena Rouge as she swiped at him with her flute staff.

El Tutoro hopped over it and caught the end of the staff with his feet. He flipped backwards, flinging Rena Rouge off to the side. However, she landed on her feet. When El Tutoro landed on the ground himself, he focused his attention on Chat Noir.

"Gato Negro," said El Tutoro. "Cuantos pies tiene el gato?"

"Tiene cuatro!" said Chat Noir, pole-vaulting into a kick with his baton.

"Correcto!" said El Tutoro as Chat Noir kicked him in the gut.

El Tutoro fell back a few feet, landing flat on his back. The paper torero got back up, and with a flick of his cape sent a swarm of paper cranes into the sky. When Tigresse Blanche stepped up ready to fight El Tutoro, the cranes started attacking random civilians.

At the gym, Kagami was practicing her fencing routine when a small flock of cranes headed her way. She swatted at them with her sabre and ran out of the school.

Master Fu sneakily dropped a box on the ground in Kagami's path and hid behind the corner of the school. He peered around the corner to see if she would take it.

"I've seen this girl's sword fighting skills," said Master Fu to Wayzz. "I believe she will be a welcome addition to the team."

As Kagami ran to avoid getting hurt, she kicked a small box. She picked it up to get a better look at it. It was an octagonal black box with a large, red insignia snaking all over the top cover. She opened it and saw a necklace with a red bead sitting inside. A bright light emanated from it and a red, spiky kwami appeared from the light.

"I am Longg, the dragon kwami," it said. "Take the Dragon Miraculous to become the superheroine that Paris needs."

"But Paris already has superheroes," said Kagami.

"Well, one more couldn't hurt," reasoned Longg. "All you need to say is 'Longg, transforme-moi!'"

"Longg," said Kagami as she hooked the necklace onto her neck. "Transforme-moi!"

The other superheroes were struggling to fight the vicious cranes when the new Miraculous holder entered the arena.

"El Tutoro," she said. "I am Ryuko and I challenge you to a swordfight. Call off your minions."

El Tutoro snapped his fingers and the life left the birds, turning into motionless paper. He made a sword out of paper and clasped it in one hand. Ryuko made a sword out of water and took her stance.

"Let us duel with civility," said Ryuko. "To the end."

The battle was on. Ryuko backed away from El Tutoro's lunge and parried with her own attack. Both duelists missed—their form was too perfect. Ryuko was going to have to trick him. She faked left and struck El Tutoro with a right slice. It nicked him slightly, but the damage was severe: a big chunk of his left shoulder was gone.

El Tutoro became wild, but Ryuko kept her cool. He stabbed at her rapidly but each stab only hit air as Ryuko dodged each one. When he became exhausted, Ryuko took the opportunity to unleash a barrage of slices through him. Her water sword was moving so fast that water sprayed all over the courtyard, drenching the other superheroes nearby.

Ryuko came to an abrupt stop and El Tutoro seemed unharmed, completely dry save for his shoulder. However, water slowly seeped from inside of him to the outside of his paper regalia. He collapsed into a pile of mushy paper.

"Ladybug," screamed Tigresse Blanche. "Make with the leprechaun spell!"

"Got it," responded Ladybug, throwing her yo-yo high into the air. "Lucky Charm!"

It came back down as a rake.

"What if I do this?" she said as she removed the stick from the tines.

She broke the head of the rake in half and held a piece in each hand as makeshift claws. She dug into the pile of wet paper until the distinct indigo feather appeared.

"You've done enough damage today, little amok," said Ladybug as she caught the feather in her yo-yo. "Je t'ai eu! Bye-bye, petit plume."

Ladybug flung her yo-yo high into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she shouted.

Ladybug essence flew all over France, cleaning up the collateral damage and restoring it to its former glory.

"Bien jouée!" said Ladybug and Chat Noir as they fist bumped.

"Your name is Ryuko, is it?" said Tigresse Blanche. "You're very skilled. We're happy to have you working with us."

"Hey," said Ladybug, feeling insulted. "Is it really that easy to get on your good side?"

"What can I say?" teased Tigresse Blanche. "I'm unpredictable."

"Well done, everybody!" said Chat Noir, trying to ease the tension. "Until next time."

They all went away to their own hiding spots to de-transform. Ladybug re-entered the girls' restroom through the high, thin window and turned back into Marinette.

"We keep getting more heroines," said Tikki. "I see that as a good thing."

"I do too," said Marinette. "But I wish Master Fu consulted me beforehand."

Meanwhile, Ryuko hid in an alleyway and turned back into Kagami. Longg emerged from her necklace.

"So," he started. "How do you feel about your new responsibilities?"

"I am grateful that I've been chosen for this job," said Kagami. "But I worry that I won't always be available for it."

"That's alright," said Longg. "You have new friends to back you up in case you can't make it."

"I like you, Longg," said Kagami. "Come with me to the talent showcase"

The lights were dim, the seats in the auditorium were packed, and the audience eagerly anticipated the start of the show. The stage curtains parted, showing that there was a background with a beautiful, grassy field in rural Japan. From opposite sides of the stage were Adrien and Kagami, approaching one another.

They bowed to each other before getting into position on either side of the stage. Then they begin to mock fight like swashbuckling pirates. They then jumped and bounced off the walls as if they were in a martial arts movie, lunging at each other from deadly heights. They came back down and lunged at each other at the same time, their sabres making contact and flying out of their hands ending in a draw. They then bowed deeply to the awestruck audience.

As the curtains closed, Adrien and Kagami exited stage left. They happened upon the dance team, who were still clapping.

"That was amazing, guys!" said Marinette.

"Aw, shucks," said Adrien. "I couldn't have done it without the perfect fencing partner."

"You had a real musicality to what you did, Kagami," complimented Gérard. "Maybe you could join one of our performances sometime."

"Thank you for saying that," said a bashful Kagami. "Adrien and I trained really hard and it means a lot that you liked it."

"And up next," announced Madame Bustier through her microphone. "Luka!"

"What?" squealed Alya. "I didn't know he was gonna perform!"

"I did," said Marinette.

The curtains parted, and on the stage was Luka sitting on a chair, guitar in hand. Behind him was a purplish-red beach sunset with calm ocean waves making a perfect reflection of the sun. He began strumming a midtempo, somewhat lazy reggae riddim that completely changed the mood in the room: everyone was transported to a summer oasis. The verses of the song spoke of a love unrequited, the staccato melody almost sounding like a rap.

"Who could he be talking about?" asked Seline, looking to an entranced Marinette.

And then the chorus hit:

"We'll be drifting through the air / when there's no one else around," sang Luka in a soft falsetto. "We're floating up to paradise / and you're the only one who can bring me down."

The girls in the audience swooned. He continued playing his song which kept sounding more and more like a love poem.

In the audience was a visibly jealous Timothée seated beside Nino.

"I can play the guitar too, you know," whispered Timothée.

"Being jealous isn't cool, dude," said Nino, making Timothée cross his arms angrily.

The final phrase of the song came, and the guitar's reverb echoed in the auditorium. The crowd erupted in applause, making Luka turn beet red. All he could do was smile and wave as he exited stage left. On the left wing, the dance team were dressed in what Chloé kept calling "safari-scout chic."

"Why are we dressed like we work at Animal Kingdom?" groaned Gérard.

"You just don't understand fashion," said Chloé snobbily. "Alright, guys. Let's kill it!"

The dance team took their places on the stage, which now had a construction site backdrop. The music began and the coy vocals led the team into their dance. They hit each step with razor sharpness that exuded confidence. At the high note, the audience gasped. The team went into a dance break led by Marinette. The stomps reverberated through the auditorium, shaking the floor like an earthquake. They then struck a pose to finish the dance, claiming their victory. They went backstage to the sound of overwhelming applause.

"We were incredible!" said Sabrina.

"Marinette?" said Adrien.

He approached Marinette without anyone noticing. Marinette tried to will herself into not blushing.

"Adrien," she said. "What're you still doing here?"

"I wanted to congratulate you on a great performance," said Adrien. "I also wanted to give you this."

He handed her a very fancy gilded enveloped sealed with a red bow. Marinette shakily took it in her hands. Is this a confession… from Adrien?

"Go ahead," said Adrien. "Read it."

Marinette's heart pumped so hard that she thought everyone could hear it. She undid the bow and opened the flap. Ever so slowly, she pulled out the delicately folded letter from inside. When she opened the letter, the anticipation was almost unbearable.

"Dear Marinette," she read aloud. "We've been impressed with your work in fashion as of recent. We cordially invite you on a trip to Japan with us as part of an internship. All expenses will be paid. We hope you take this opportunity. Sincerely, Gabriel Agreste."

Marinette's voice became less enthusiastic with each passing word. It wasn't a confession of love from Adrien like she thought it would be. Adrien noticed her disappointment.

"Is something wrong?" said Adrien. "You don't want to go?"

"Of course I want to go," said Marinette. "It's just that I have so many things to think about, like school, my parents and babysitting. I'm not sure how I'll do it."

"Let me know when you've made up your mind," said Adrien. "Because I'll be going too and I want to know if you're going with me."

Marinette's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. This tidbit of information changed everything.

"In that case," said Marinette. "I'm definitely going! Now that I know my boyfriend is going—I mean a boy who's a friend who is you! I didn't mean you were my boyfriend! Never in a million years... but I don't mean that in a bad way!"

"What luck," interrupted Seline. "Your girlfriends are going, too. We're going to Japan for an international competition, remember?"

"What?" shouted Marinette. "Nobody told me!"

"But I told Gérard to tell you," said Seline.

"And I told Sabrina," said Gérard.

"And I told Chloé," said Sabrina.

They all turned to Chloé.

"You told me when I was getting my hair done," said Chloé. "Everybody knows not to tell me anything important when I'm getting my hair done!"

All of the kids laughed at Chloé's bogus excuse.

"Anyway," said Alya. "We're going to need a name and a song for our group."

"W-We already have a name," said Marinette self-consciously. "It's, uh… Miracle's Angel!"

"Ooh," said Seline. "I like it, and Gérard wrote a song for us."

"What?!" shrieked Marinette. "What do you mean?"

"I really like Perfume and AKB48," confessed Gérard. "So I wrote this synthy, bubblegum-pop song called 'Tamagotchi' for us to perform."

"Well, there you have it," said Alya. "We're going to Japan!"

They were all excited for the grand adventure that they were about to embark on.

Over at the Agreste mansion was Gabriel, awaiting Mayura's return to his lair. She descended the platform and de-transformed. Nathalie took off the Peacock Miraculous, handing it to Gabriel.

"You did well, Nathalie," said Gabriel.

"Thank you, sir," she said. "You have taken notice of that group of friends that Adrien has, haven't you? They are always around when the superheroes arrive. I suspect that one of them is Ladybug and that she has the Butterfly Miraculous. If we set them up to go to a different location and wreak havoc, it would prove our theory if they showed up."

"I hope this plan works," said Gabriel. "Every moment without my Miraculous is another moment that could've gone to rescuing Emilie."

At the mention of Emilie's name, Nathalie's heart sank. She knew that she would never replace Gabriel's wife, but that didn't stop her from hoping to be with him one day.

Later that night, Marinette opened the door to Master Fu's massage parlor, making the little bell attached to the door jingle.

"I heard you were going to Japan," said Master Fu.

"That's right," said Marinette.

"In that case," said Master Fu. "I should give you this."

He walked over to his gramophone, opening it up to reveal the Miracle Box. He removed it from its compartment and presented it to Marinette.

"You're giving it to me?" said Marinette, hardly believing it.

"If you ever need reinforcements," said Master Fu. "You will also need this. You have proven to me that I can entrust you with it. Please take it with you."

Master Fu removed his Turtle Miraculous ring and placed it in its appropriate slot in the Miracle Box.

"I don't know what to say," said Marinette. "Thank you. You won't regret this."

Marinette put the Miracle Box in her backpack and waved goodbye before returning home. On the walk home, thoughts of what was to come swam around in Marinette's head.

* * *

A/N: So… it turns out working on two fics at the same time wasn't the best idea. We're going to focus on writing the last two chapters of this arc and then we'll get to writing our Ilvermorny story full time. Still, we wanted to thank everyone who reads and reviews our stories because it means so much to us! Till then… see you guys in Japan!


	12. Les Sœurs Pêcheurs

A/N: Zhenxuan20002, to answer your questions, our story is kind of an AU story at this point, but we would say that it has definitely been inspired by seasons 2-4. Also, Ladybug and Team Panthera were able to take the Butterfly Miraculous back in chapter 10. As for your last question, we hope to answer it in this chapter. Side note, Les Sœurs Pêcheurs is French for "The Fisher Sisters," and is pronounced like "lay sir peh-sure." Without further ado, here's chapter 12!

Les Sœurs Pêcheurs (Famous In Japan - Part 1): **As our heroes arrive in Tokyo, Marinette and friends go to a mermaid-themed café where, to everyone's shock, three bratty triplets are akumatized into the sushi-inspired supervillains, Les Sœurs Pêcheurs.**

* * *

The winter air was complemented by the light rain outside. Christmas decorations were strewn all around the city of Paris. One particularly ornate house was the Dupain-Cheng residence.

Marinette was in her room this morning, putting all the essential items in her hot-pink suitcase. She stuffed her suitcase with winter wear and her stage outfit. She also stored assorted perfumes in there just in case she was going to see Adrien.

"I'm really scared, Tikki," said Marinette. "I mean, I'm excited, but this is so much to handle. I've never even thought about going to Japan before!"

"You just have to see this as a whole new adventure," said Tikki.

"Actually, why is Master Fu letting me go?" asked Marinette. "Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean Mayura won't come back. What'll happen if a sentimonster shows up?"

"Don't worry about that," said Tikki. "Let's just say he has a Plan B in case anything like that happens."

Marinette was surprised to hear this. It sounded like Master Fu was hiding something. She shook her head, putting the Miracle Box in the suitcase and zipping it up.

"Alright," said Marinette. "That should be everything."

As her parents drove her to the airport, Marinette took one last look at Paris—past her school, the Lœuvre, and the Eiffel Tower. She knew the trip was only for a couple days, but she couldn't help but feel emotional.

Marinette kissed her parents goodbye when they dropped her off. Familiar faces were gathered at the front entrance waiting for her: Alya, Nino, Chloé, Sabrina, Seline, Timothée and Gérard. The stylish Parisian airport was a sea of red and silver. Marinette and her friends walked through the tunnel-like halls to reach their gate. At Gate 19, Marinette saw Adrien sat at one of the seats lined up against the large window. He stood up to wave them over.

"Adrien!" called Marinette. "I thought you were going on a private jet?"

"I was," admitted Adrien. "But I decided I'd rather spend as much time with my friends as possible, so I convinced my dad to let me come with you guys."

They looked over at Gabriel Agreste sitting on the crimson red seat, reading a magazine with an especially nasty scowl on his face.

"That's so sweet of you," said Seline. "So what are our seating arrangements?"

"Us three together, of course," said Timothée.

"We'll think of the rest when we get on the plane," said Alya, winking at Marinette.

Marinette stepped onto the airplane followed by her friends to the middle section. Seline and her cousins raced for their spots.

"Window," said Timothée.

"Aisle," said Seline.

"And I'm left with the middle seat," said Gérard dejectedly.

Nino and Adrien were looking for a row to sit in when Alya clutched Nino's arm.

"Nino," said Alya. "Come sit with me."

"But I wanna sit—oh!" said Nino, understanding Alya's plan. "That's right. Why don't you find a spot for yourself, Adrien? Like, uh… try over there."

Nino casually pointed in the direction up ahead which just happened to be where Marinette was sitting. She was absentmindedly looking out the window when she heard Adrien's voice.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

Marinette nodded her head silently. She was afraid that if she spoke she would sound silly. Just as Adrien took his seat, a sneaky blonde sat next to him.

"Adrikins!" said Chloé as she snuggled up to him. "It's perfect that we're going to sit together—oh. Hello, Marinette."

Chloé's voice was dripping with irritation. Marinette responded with a passive-aggressive smile. This was going to be a long flight...

The next thing she knew, Marinette woke up with her head on Adrien's shoulder. She blushed when she realized what she was doing and got up. Chloé was no longer sitting next to them and Marinette tried to remember what happened. Memories came back to her in flashes:

Chloé was constantly insulting Marinette and embarrassing Adrien, demanded the food cart go away when Marinette was going to order, and she remembered Alya and Seline escorting Chloé out of her seat to sit somewhere else.

Seeing what she could remember, Marinette was glad that most of it was a blur. She didn't want to relive the headache that was Chloé. Then she heard a faint ding come over the intercom.

"We are now approaching the end of our flight," announced the pilot's voice. "Brace for the landing and have a wonderful stay in Tokyo."

Adrien woke up to the sound of this and stretched his sore arms.

"We're in Japan already?" he asked.

"Seems like it," replied Marinette.

The airplane's wheels popped out and touched the pavement. The landing was so rough that it jolted Marinette on top of Adrien. Seline and Alya quietly squealed in the seats behind them—this scene was just too funny. Marinette blushed so profusely that her head became a tomato. She awkwardly picked herself up and back into her seat.

"I'm so sorry!" said Marinette. "I didn't mean to fall on top of you! The plane was so jerky and it kind of just happened!"

"It's okay, Marinette," said Adrien. "I understand. That landing was super rough."

Even though she was back on the ground, Marinette felt like she was on Cloud Nine.

"Soak it in, people," said Alya. "Because the rest of the day is going to be hectic. Let's all get out of here so we can get our stuff and be on our way."

In the jungle of conveyor belts that brought the luggage from the airplane to the baggage claim, Marinette's suitcase unzipped from the roughness with which it was delivered. With a bump, the Miracle Box lid slid open. The Butterfly Miraculous popped out and onto the conveyor belt next to Marinette's suitcase.

At the baggage claim, Chloé had Sabrina grab her designer suitcase when she saw the most beautiful, little piece of purple jewelry she had ever seen. Chloé held it in her hand to get a closer look.

"We should probably return that to lost and found," said Sabrina.

"Finders keepers," said Chloé as she fastened the butterfly cuff to her hair. "Losers weepers. Now, let's find a fashionable café around here."

Nathalie picked up her suitcase from the conveyor belt when a sparkle from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She recognized it immediately as the Butterfly Miraculous. She walked past the girls and smoothly snatched the jewelry off Chloé's head without anyone noticing. She didn't even pause for a second, continuing on her way through the airport. She pulled her phone out when she turned a corner and dialed her boss.

"Monsieur Agreste," she said. "I've found something that I think you'll like."

Nathalie held the Butterfly Miraculous up to the light, feeling a great sense of victory fill her chest.

Later on, Marinette's friend group acquainted themselves with their hotel rooms in preparation for the day ahead of them. Marinette placed her suitcase on her bed while Alya did the same in the bed next to her.

"It looks like my suitcase got unzipped a little," said Marinette to Alya. "I didn't even notice."

"I hope you're not missing anything," said Alya.

Marinette unzipped it the rest of the way and the Miracle Box came into view right on top of the clothes with the lid slightly ajar. Marinette quickly stood in front of it to hide it from Alya's sight. She shut the lid firmly and piled some clothes on top of it to hide it better. She took her workout clothes and closed the suitcase.

"I should probably keep the Miracle Box in here," thought Marinette. "I wouldn't want to lose it while we're outside."

Once they were done unpacking, everyone got together in the hotel's gym. Gérard played their song on a speaker. Thankfully, the gym was mostly empty, but that didn't stop Marinette from getting self-conscious.

"I'm still not used to hearing the sound of my own voice," she groaned.

The song was "Tamagotchi," a cute pop song with a hip-hop edge written and produced by Gérard (with some lyrics provided by Seline and Timothée, of course). The dance moves were clearly choreographed by Gérard; his distinct style of large, explosive moves was unmistakable. When the song ended, they were all panting heavily.

"I'm so proud of us," said Gérard. "We've completed a whole song and dance on our own! We're finally ready for the competition."

That night, the crowd of excited patrons were gathered in front of the outdoor stadium, all clad in light jackets because of the cold. Nino, Timothée, and Adrien held up a large banner with "Miracle's Angel" adorned with a halo, ribbons and angel wings. Everyone was holding glow sticks in the air enthusiastically.

"Love makes you do crazy things," said Nino, shivering.

"Speak for yourself," chuckled Timothée. "I'm doing this for my crazy brother and cousin."

The dance team, now christened Miracle's Angel, stood offstage waiting for their turn while dressed in their candy cane-themed stage outfits. They shifted on their feet impatiently as the other participants performed. Without advance warning, they heard a sound that surprised them.

"Mirakuruzu Einjeru!" announced the vibrant host.

"That's us!" said Seline.

Miracle's Angel stepped up to the stage, feeling a small blast of cold air.

"It's chilly!" said Sabrina. "I wish our outfits were warmer."

"Deal with it!" said Chloé.

They started performing their original song. The saw synth on the track kept building and building until the beat started. They made broad, sweeping motions with their arms and did complicated footwork. The female dancers separated for Gérard's rap solo:

"I enchant the dancefloor, make your body roll," he rapped. "Brought the heat from Paris to Tokyo / I could turn the whole room into my paparazzi / Baby, show us love like we're your Tamagotchi."

This led into the pre-chorus, accompanied by a chiptune arpeggio on the track.

"Can you sense me when I'm getting closer?" sang Marinette. "Never want want this feeling to be over."

"You and I until the end of time," continued singing Seline. "Boy, you got me dancing on cloud nine."

"Take care of me like Tamagotchi!" cheered Chloé, Sabrina and Alya, walking to the center as they all danced passionately. The beat dropped into a chopped-and-screwed vocal hook, accented by a percussive bass drum.

At the song's bridge, they reached for their candy cane props. They spun them like batons, tapped the ground with them in rhythm, and joined them together to make shapes like hearts and stars.

The other five members made an arch with their canes while Chloé curtseyed in the middle of it as the song ended. The crowd chanted "Miracle's Angel" excitedly, to the delight of Marinette and her teammates.

All the contestants lined up on the stage and the energetic host thanked everyone for participating. He said something that made the crowd cheer and gave Marinette a trophy that held a letter in it.

Marinette handed Seline the letter, who tried her best in translating the text on the slip.

"We are cordially invited to the grand opening of the Ningyo-hime café!" said Seline.

"What's that?" asked Alya.

"It translates to a 'mermaid princess' café," informed Gérard. "I've heard it's gonna be super exclusive."

"Exclusive?" asked Chloé, her ears perking up at the word. "I guess we're gonna have to wear our best, flashiest outfits. Ah… I love Japan!"

Elsewhere in Tokyo, Nathalie stepped into the extravagant white-and-gold hotel suite in which Gabriel was residing.

"I believe this is yours," said Nathalie, presenting the Butterfly Miraculous.

"My Miraculous!" said Gabriel. "Where was it? How did you get it?"

"I think you will be surprised, sir," said Nathalie. "I found it on the head of that blonde girl, Chloé. It seems we've found our Ladybug."

"But that's impossible," said Gabriel. "She's been rescued by Ladybug countless times, and she herself is Queen Bee."

While Gabriel and Nathalie were left pondering how the Butterfly Miraculous wound up in Chloé's possession, Marinette and her friends took in the sights and sounds of Tokyo:

Chloé and Sabrina strutted their unique fashions on the streets of Harajuku, trading fashion tips with some of the locals; Marinette, Alya, Seline and Gérard were taking photos in front of Sensō-ji, using the bright red temples behind them as the perfect backdrop; meanwhile, Adrien, Nino and Timothée were at the video game paradise of the SEGA arcade, caught in a competitive Mario Kart arcade game.

Later in the afternoon, Marinette and her friends regrouped, walking the streets until they finally made their way to the Ningyo-hime café. They looked up at the sign above the door, an illustration of a chibi mermaid with mint-green hair winking at them.

"Mermaid café!" shrieked Seline. "I'm so happy being back in Japan."

"Are you actually tearing up, Seline?" teased Timothée.

"Don't be so insensitive," said Gérard. "This is a very emotional experience for us all. Anyway, we've got someone to see… and there she is!"

Marinette saw Seline, Timothée, and Gérard meeting up with a girl who looked very much like herself. She thought it was Kagami, but it couldn't be, could it? This girl was actually smiling. Marinette walked over to the four of them.

"Kagami?" said Marinette. "It's such a surprise to see you here."

"My shock is even greater," replied Kagami in her distinct, cold demeanor.

"Did you four become friends after the showcase back at school?" asked Marinette, trying to forgive Kagami's indifference.

"Actually," corrected Seline. "We've known her for years, just like we've known Adrien. She's part of the reason I got us into the performance competition."

This seemed to be a recurring theme to Marinette: Seline, Timothée, and Gérard knew Adrien before she did, as did Chloé. They also seem to be good friends with Kagami, a person with whom she's never even been able to be cordial. It felt like everyone was good friends with each other except for Marinette.

"Our group just keeps on getting bigger," giggled Alya, walking over to Marinette. "Are you all having fun?"

"Yup," said Seline. "Wait until you guys see all the sugary treats!"

"We can't wait!" said Alya, putting a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Right, Marinette?"

Whenever Marinette was feeling her worst, Alya was always there to cheer her up. She no longer felt so alone and she vowed not to let Kagami make her feel that way anymore.

Marinette and friends all entered the underwater-themed restaurant. Plastic seaweed reached up to the ceiling. Electric fans blew on blue and green fabric on the walls simulating flowing ocean waves. Emerald chairs were pushed up against beige tables so the customers looked like mermaids resting on sea rocks. The waitresses wore pants that had shiny scales and ruffles at the ankles that resembled fins.

After being seated, one particularly delightful waitress delivered Seline, Timothée, Gérard and Kagami their meal. The tray had glittery, aquatic pancakes, drinks with edible pearls and whipped cream on top, and cupcakes with mermaid tails poking out. The three of them wasted no time to dig in.

"I'm so happy that we get to take a break from all the stress we've been dealing with," said Seline before taking a sip of her pink-and-blue drink. "I can finally relax and stretch my fins."

"You know you're not a mermaid, right?" said Timothée.

"A girl can dream," sighed Seline.

At this time, three identical triplet girls were sitting at the far end of the café making a scene. Their entire conversation was in Japanese.

"We asked for zesty mahi mahi lightly dipped in soy sauce topped with a dollop of wasabi sliced three ways into a peace sign with a side of omurice that has a ketchup design of a cuddly cat sleeping in a bed and this is what you bring us!?" shouted the triplet with a ponytail.

"That's what I brought you, isn't it?" asked the nervous mermaid waitress.

"Hardly!" said the triplet with the bangs. "The mahi mahi has no zest, the peace sign is lopsided and looks more like a pie chart, and the ketchup cat on the omurice is nowhere near as cute as we want it to be! Send it back and give us a better one!"

Marinette's friend group were overhearing this commotion, feeling bad for the waitress having to endure the triplets' scolding.

"Those girls sound super annoying," said Chloé without any sense of irony.

"But we can't make any more," said the waitress. "We don't even serve mahi mahi. You should be thankful we could even make it on such short notice!"

"We don't care," said the girl triplet her hair in a bob. "We deserve the best and this food you gave us—if you can even call it that—is simply not up to par."

The waitress' smile fell, leaving behind a stony face. She crossed her arms defiantly.

"I'm paid to be nice to you," she said. "But they don't pay me nearly enough to deal with brats like you. You've tested my patience and now you're banned from this restaurant. I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."

"Banned!?" said the triplet with the bangs.

"You can't treat us like this!" said the triplet with the ponytail.

Far away in his hotel room, Gabriel Agreste felt a pulse coming from the Butterfly Miraculous.

"I can already feel troubled souls waiting for me to give them a voice," said Gabriel.

"Then take this moment, sir," said Nathalie. "And become Papillon once again!"

Gabriel fastened the Butterfly Miraculous under his tie, causing Nooroo to warp out of the Miraculous. Upon seeing Gabriel, Nooroo gasped but quickly accepted this turn of events.

"I knew this would happen," he said sadly.

"We have much to talk about, Nooroo," said Gabriel. "But later. We have work to do. Transforme-moi!"

Gabriel's immaculately styled outfit transformed into the costume of the one and only Papillon.

As Marinette was giggling with her friends at the café, trying their best to ignore the triplets, she saw something from the other side of the café that made her heart drop. Was that a feather? No, feathers don't have wings. It was unmistakably an... akuma.

Panic struck Marinette's face as the purple butterfly attached itself to the triplets' matching friendship bracelets.

"Les Sœurs Pêcheurs," the triplets could hear from Papillon. "I am Papillon and I will give you the respect you demand if you destroy Japan from the inside out!"

"At your service, Papillon," harmonized the triplets with devious smiles plastered on their faces.

The triplet with the ponytail's outfit turned into a red lolita dress with small plastic salmon on the skirt and a koi fish hairpin on her head. Her weapon was a mallet; The triplet with the bob had a blue lolita dress with a thick, black belt and a tobiko hairpin on her head. Her weapon was a polearm; The triplet with bangs got a yellow lolita dress with a seaweed shawl and a squid hairpin on her head. Her weapon was a pair of nunchucks.

The triplet with the ponytail smashed a table with her mallet, and the restaurant erupted into chaos. All three villains kicked through the glass window, jumping out onto the streets.

"Yokai!" shouted the patrons as they ran away, creating complete pandemonium.

"It's not a yokai," said Seline over all the commotion. "It's… an akuma!?

Seline remembered very clearly that she, her cousins, and Ladybug recaptured the Butterfly Miraculous from the Agreste mansion over a month prior. If there were an akuma in this café, that meant Papillon must have stolen it back from Ladybug.

"Run, Kagami," said Seline. "We'll meet up with you later."

"Be safe," said Kagami as she ran out through the panicked crowd.

"Looks like it's superhero time," said Gérard. "Are you ready to go, Léopard?"

"You know it, Lion," said Timothée cheekily.

Timothée and Gérard dashed into the mermen's restroom while Seline ran into the mermaid's restroom and pulled Taag, her white tiger kwami, out of her pocket.

"There's an akuma," said Seline.

"That's impossible!" said Taag. "Didn't we get Nooroo back?"

"All signs point to 'Ladybug' not keeping a closer eye on the Butterfly Miraculous," said Seline. "We can't talk about it now. Transforme-moi!"

Back at the restaurant, Marinette was still in the midst of everyone running away with her friends.

"Let's all hide," said Marinette. "But not all together. They might target us if they see us in a group."

As Adrien, Nino, and Alya went elsewhere, Marinette ran out of the café, disappearing into the crowd and running into the alley. She opened her purse and Tikki flew out.

"Tikki," said Marinette, tears running down her face. "I messed up! I really, really messed up!"

"Calm down and focus," said Tikki. "The people of Tokyo are depending on you to save them, so go do it!"

"Transforme-moi!" said Marinette.

Ladybug ran towards Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Tigresse Blanche, Léopard, and Lion, who were already gathered together trying to find any trace of the akumatized triplets. In the large empty crosswalk, the triplets lined up one behind the other. They wiggled their hips in rhythm and waited their turn to jump out of line to formally introduce themselves:

"Makizushi!" said the triplet with the bob, hopping to the left.

"Oshizushi!" said the triplet with the bangs, hopping to the right.

"Inarizushi!" bellowed the triplet with a ponytail in a high-pitched voice, hopping in place at the center. "And we're Les Sœurs Pêcheurs!"

"That's so gimmicky," said Tigresse Blanche.

"More gimmicky than a group of superheroes based on animals?" said Lion

"It's cool when we do it, though," said Léopard.

Les Sœurs Pêcheurs split up, giggling like little girls.

"Don't let them get away!" screamed Tigresse Blanche. "Magie noire!"

A large, black orb of increased gravity formed around Les Sœurs Pêcheurs and a similar, smaller one formed around Tigresse Blanche's hand. She squeezed the inside of her orb, but Les Sœurs Pêcheurs dodged out of the larger one like leaping frogs. A food truck got caught inside the orb and was crushed into a metallic cylinder.

"Oops!" said Tigresse Blanche, releasing her grip.

Standing on a telephone pole, Oshizushi whacked at telephone lines with her nunchucks, making them snap and whip around wildly, shooting sparks of electricity. Inarizushi smashed storefront windows with her mallet as she ran madly. Makizushi stabbed through the hood of an empty car, piercing the engine and setting it ablaze.

"Your weapon is long-range and mine is short-range," said Lion, holding his brass knuckles up to his face in a fighting stance. "But I have a feeling I'll win anyway. Let's fight!"

Makizushi laughed, hopping away as the car erupted in a huge plume of flames.

"Where are you going?" said Lion.

The three sushi-villains continued wreaking absolute havoc on the usually calm streets of Tokyo.

"It feels like they don't want to fight," said Ladybug. "They just want to make a mess."

"In other words," said Rena Rouge. "They're having a temper tantrum. When my little sisters throw a temper tantrum, I take away their toys."

"Then that's exactly what we should do," said Ladybug.

Alya played a melody on her flute and Oshizushi's nunchucks became ravenous snakes to her eyes. She threw them away in disgust as Alya caught them with her staff.

Ladybug caught Makizushi's polearm with the string of her yo-yo. Léopard ducked under a swing from Inarizushi's mallet, then he used his nunchucks to swat Inarizushi's hands, making her drop the mallet.

Les Sœurs Pêcheurs' were officially disarmed, leaving them vulnerable. The triplets were not too keen on having fun now that they were defenseless.

"You haven't seen the last of us!" threatened Inarizushi.

Right before our heroes' eyes, Les Sœurs Pêcheurs were quickly able to leap out of sight.

"Darn it!" said Ladybug. "They're not supposed to run away. I can't get their akuma now!"

"Don't sweat it, my lady," said Chat Noir. "They've surrendered so they won't cause anymore trouble."

"I hope you're right," said Ladybug.

"Ladybug," said Tigresse Blanche as she walked up to her haughtily. "I never should have asked for your help with the Butterfly Miraculous. Countless people will suffer because you couldn't keep a closer eye on it. I was beginning to think you were bringing honor to the Ladybug name, but now I know you will never be as good as the previous Ladybug!"

"How can you say—?" started Chat Noir.

"No," interrupted Ladybug. "She has a right to say how she feels. I'm sorry for failing us. I don't know how Papillon got his Miraculous back, but I will make it right. Trust me."

Ladybug was on the verge of tears when an enraged Tigresse Blanche ran away out of sight.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, Les Sœurs Pêcheurs sat on the sandy shore of a beach, pouting angrily like little brats.

"This is so unfair!" whined Inarizushi. "That magical girl and her animal friends fought dirty!"

"Everyone treats us like little kids," said Oshizushi. "I'm so tired of people not taking us seriously!"

"We can't be the ones in the wrong," wondered Makizushi. "Can we?"

Without their noticing, a blue woman went to look out at the water alongside them.

"Don't worry, girls," reassured Mayura with her fan in hand. "I've got something that can help you three get back at those bullies."

Mayura elegantly plucked a feather from her fan, letting it glide gently onto Inarizushi's koi fish hairpin.

"Fly away, my beautiful amok," she said. "And give Les Sœurs Pêcheurs the help they need to finish the job."

Leaves in the nearby water rippled ominously. A tidal wave burst from the ocean's waters to reveal a giant, reptilian sentimonster awaiting the command from Les Sœurs Pêcheurs.

"Koiju," shouted Inarizushi. "Destroy Ladybug and her friends… once and for all!"

The sentimonster's roar rang throughout Tokyo as he stomped onto dry land for the first time…

TO BE CONTINUED.

* * *

A/N: We can't believe we're almost at the end of this first arc. Thank you everyone who has been reading so far and the new people who might find our story! We love seeing you guys like this story. Chapter 13 coming very soon!


	13. Koiju

Koiju (Famous In Japan - Part 2): **Tokyo falls under attack from a giant sentimonster summoned by Les Sœurs Pêcheurs named Koiju, leading to a Miraculous battle on a Japanese landmark.**

Featuring:

Chloé as Queen Bee

Nino as Carapace

Kagami as Ryuko

Sabrina as Saru-hime

Hanako as Armadilla

* * *

The streets of Tokyo finally seemed to return back to normal after Les Sœurs Pêcheurs left the scene. Just when people thought it was safe to walk the streets, small tremors shook the ground. The tremors grew stronger and stronger until the ground was shaking so violently that the pavement threatened to crack.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Léopard and Lion struggled to stand upright. Despite his efforts, Chat Noir wound up falling on his backside.

"I thought cats always landed on their feet," said Ladybug clutching onto a streetlamp.

"And I thought Ladybugs could fly," said Chat Noir. "I guess we'll just have to learn to love each other's imperfections."

This sentence was underscored by an ear-piercing shriek that sounded like a buzz saw cutting through metal. The superheroes saw that a blue, reptilian monster that stood forty stories tall was the source. When the monster closed its maw, Ladybug could see the three fishy girls standing on its scaly head.

"Attention, people of Tokyo!" announced Les Sœurs Pȇcheurs. "We're back!"

"I hate sequels," said Lion.

"Get ready, team," said Ladybug. "This one's going to take everything we've got."

"I can't," said Rena Rouge. "I'm already de-transforming. You'll have to go on without me."

Rena Rouge jumped high onto the rooftops and ran away, leaving Ladybug in shock.

"First, Tigresse Blanche leaves," said Chat Noir. "And now, Rena Rouge. What are we going to do?"

"Keep those girls and their pet lizard busy," said Ladybug. "I'll bring in reinforcements."

Ladybug swung away through the skyscrapers of Tokyo, leaving Chat Noir, Léopard, and Lion behind.

"Think you can handle it?" asked Léopard.

"Don't make me laugh," said Chat Noir. "I've battled a giant baby before. This is nothing."

Ladybug dashed towards the hotel she was staying at, flicking her yo-yo at structures like a whip. She swung up to her hotel room window and climbed inside. She found her bright pink suitcase, unzipped it and came face to face with the Miracle Box. Every one of its compartments opened and Marinette stared wistfully at the empty purple space on the top reserved for the Butterfly Miraculous.

"How could I have been so careless?" thought Ladybug. "No! I have to stay focused."

She grabbed an assortment of Miraculouses: Turtle, Bee, Dragon, Monkey and one that she had yet to see used—the Armadillo Miraculous. It was a silver wrist bangle. She couldn't explain it, but she felt compelled to bring it with her.

Ladybug lunged through the open window and swung back out onto the streets of Tokyo. Out on the sidewalk, she found Chloé admiring the clothes on display at a luxury-brand store with Sabrina.

"Shouldn't we be running away?" said Sabrina.

"Please," said Chloé. "Just because there's a huge monster attacking people? In Paris, that's a regular Tuesday."

"Queen Bee!" said Ladybug as she swooped down.

"Ladybug!" gushed Chloé. "You've come to tell me that you need my help, haven't you?"

Ladybug wasted no time with words, presenting the box containing the Bee Miraculous to Chloé.

"Chloé Bourgeois," said Ladybug. "Here is the Miraculous of the Bee which grants the power of subjection. You will use it for the greater good."

"Yes!" said Chloé, clutching the box to her chest. "Sorry, Sabrina. Looks like I'm going to leave you here."

"Not so fast," said Ladybug, presenting the box containing the Monkey Miraculous to Sabrina. "Sabrina Raincomprix. Here is the Miraculous of the Monkey which grants the power of jubilation. You will use it for the greater good."

"Me?" said Sabrina, taking the box. "I'm flattered. I never thought you would ask me!"

"Stay put while I bring someone else," said Ladybug.

Ladybug continued her search through Tokyo. She swung past the dilapidated Ningyo-hime café and through its shattered window found Nino hiding underneath a table. Ladybug entered the little café through the window.

"Nino!" she said. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, Ladybug?" said Nino.

Ladybug offered Nino a hand, helping him rise to his feet. Then she presented him with the box containing the Turtle Miraculous.

"Nino Lahiffe," she said. "Here is the Miraculous of the Turtle which grants the power of protection. You will use it for the greater good."

"For sure," said Nino, equal parts confused and excited. "This is gonna be awesome, dude!"

"Now come with me," said Ladybug. "We have to track down some more reinforcements."

Ladybug ran through the streets with Nino following closely behind. They ran past Sabrina and Chloé who were still standing in front of the clothing store, awaiting Ladybug's instructions.

"Come on, girls," said Ladybug.

"We're already going?" said Chloé. "Shouldn't we be transforming?"

"Not just yet," said Ladybug. "There's one last thing to do."

When they ran past the hotel, Ladybug spotted Kagami sitting on a comfy lounge chair in the lobby.

"This is it," said Ladybug, coming to an abrupt stop. "Let's go in."

The automatic doors parted gently, allowing Ladybug and company through. Kagami got up from her seat the second she saw them.

"Ladybug," said Kagami. "How did you get here?"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Ladybug. "I need your help!"

Ladybug formally presented the box containing the Dragon Miraculous to Kagami.

"Kagami Tsurugi," said Ladybug. "Here is the Miraculous of the Dragon which grants you power over the elements. You will use it for the greater good."

"I will not disappoint you," said Kagami curtly. "I've missed Longg. I thought I would never see her again after she told me to return her to Master Fu."

"All that's left is the Armadillo Miraculous," said Ladybug. "But I can't think of anyone to give it to!"

"I know someone you can trust," said Kagami, turning to a friend of hers. "Hanako."

A Japanese girl wearing a navy-blue sailor fuku came out from under the receptionist desk. It seemed that she was hiding there as a result of the quakes. Ladybug held the box containing the Armadillo Miraculous out to her.

"Hanako... uh?" said Ladybug.

"Hoshiguri," said Kagami.

"Hanako Hoshiguri," continued Ladybug. "Will you take the Armadillo Miraculous and become… uh… Armadilla?"

Kagami translated everything Ladybug said for her friend. Hanako's eyes widened when she realized what Ladybug was suggesting.

"Mahō shōjo?" asked a puzzled Hanako, pointing to herself.

"Hai," responded Kagami.

"Sugoi!" said Hanako excitedly.

"Now repeat after me, guys," instructed Ladybug as the new team's kwamis appeared before them. "Transforme-moi!"

"Transforme-moi!" echoed the newly assembled team.

The little kwamis warped into their respective Miraculouses, transforming the five teens into superheroes:

Queen Bee was in her yellow striped costume; Carapace wore his green, hooded costume with a large turtle shell on his back; Ryuko wore her red bodysuit adorned with a black dragon tail design looping around her leg and swirling into the center of her chest; Sabrina wore a brown romper with yellow accents, banana earrings and a monkey tail; and lastly, Armadilla wore a platinum, spiky bodysuit with shiny, silver arm bracers.

"You guys all have super cool names," said superhero Sabrina sadly. "But I can't think of one."

Ryuko informed Armadilla what Sabrina was talking about. Armadilla put a finger to her chin, thinking to herself until an idea popped into her head.

"Saru-hime!" said Armadilla.

"That means Monkey Princess," translated Ryuko.

"Saru-hime," repeated Sabrina. "I like it!"

"Now that we've got that settled," said Ladybug. "We've got some fish to fry!"

On a rooftop, Lion flung one of his brass knuckles at Koiju's face like a boomerang. It smacked onto the side of Koiju's head, causing the great monster to recoil. As the brass knuckle flew back to Lion, Koiju lunged to bite Lion.

The chains of Léopard's nunchucks extended until they could wrap around Koiju's muzzle. Léopard held the monster's mouth shut tight by pulling on the ends of his nunchucks. This was no use; Koiju swiftly flicked Chat Noir, Lion and Léopard off of him, sending the three heroes crashing to the ground.

"When is that girl coming back?!" yelled Léopard, struggling to get back up on his feet along with Chat Noir and Lion.

"I'm right here," announced Ladybug. "And I've brought company!"

"Whoa!" said Lion. "Who are they?"

"Your new teammates," said Ladybug. "Say hello to Queen Bee, Carapace, Ryuko, Saru-hime, and Armadilla!"

The new heroes stood triumphantly, looking like they were ready to take on any adversary with Ladybug leading them.

"It's nice to see you're all back," said Chat Noir. "Although, there are some new faces."

"Saru-hime here to put an end to this monkey business!" said Saru-hime.

"Welcome aboard!" said Chat Noir before turning to Armadilla. "But I've never seen your Miraculous before. What's your name again?"

"Arumadira-desu," said Armadilla shyly, blushing at the suave Parisian.

"Oh," said Chat Noir, blushing himself now. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

Ladybug stood between the two flirting superheroes, growing tired of Chat Noir's distractedness.

"Enough of the chit chat, guys," said Ladybug. "We have a monster to fight… and he's closing in!"

The fearsome mug of Koiju threatened to press up against our heroes who quickly ran underneath him and towards its hindquarters.

"Anybody up for some rock climbing?" proposed Chat Noir, hopping onto the sentimonster's tail.

The other heroes looked to one another, jumping along with Chat Noir as Koiju started flailing his tail violently. Our heroes began scaling Koiju's scaly body as quickly as they could. Along the way, they all split up into different teams:

Chat Noir, Léopard, Lion and Carapace climbed the right side of his body, clawing, hitting, and scratching their way as they rose to the top.

Similarly, Ladybug, Queen Bee, Ryuko, Saru-hime and Armadilla punched and kicked their way up.

They finally reached the top of the monster's head to find Inarizushi mounted between Koiju's ears which she was holding onto to navigate his path.

"Hey!" shouted Ladybug. "Where are the other two?"

Inarizushi turned with an awestruck look on her face.

"They're fighting with the other two losers in your team!" she shouted back to Ladybug's surprise, laughing maniacally. "Why don't we go see them?"

Inarizushi pulled Koiju's ears up, and the sentimonster leapt onto one building, and another, until he was using the buildings of Tokyo as his own game of hopscotch. As the buildings he jumped off of grew taller and taller, one stood out against all the rest—the Tokyo Skytree.

"There's our destination, Koiju," said Inarizushi as Ladybug and her friends held onto the monster for dear life. "Let's see what my sisters are up to."

Without warning, Koiju latched onto the Skytree, spiralling around it at top speed as he climbed higher and higher.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," said Saru-hime, feeling whiplash.

"Keep it together!" yelled Queen Bee.

The heroes tried their best to attack Koiju with their weapons, but it was difficult to do that and hang on at the same time. Koiju climbed to a level with a large platform circling the circumference of the tower. On that platform were Rena Rouge and Tigresse Blanche fighting Oshizushi and Makizushi.

"Fancy seeing you all here," said Rena Rouge, ducking under a swing from Oshizushi's nunchuck.

"We would've gotten here earlier," said Chat Noir. "But our elevator was slow."

The heroes and Inarizushi hopped off of Koiju, who was now awaiting further instruction.

"Took you long enough," said Makizushi to Inarizushi.

"Now we can have a free-for-all," said Inarizushi as she was flanked by her sisters. "The eleven of you against the three of us!"

Ladybug's team laughed uproariously. Les Sœurs Pêcheurs were absolutely dwarfed in numbers.

"You really think you can win?" asked Tigresse Blanche. "Then let's play ball."

"Let's," taunted Inarizushi, lifting her mallet up and charging at Tigresse Blanche as she crushed the ground at her feet.

Ladybug kicked Inarizushi as Tigresse Blanche pounced away from the mallet's strike. Queen Bee, Saru-hime and Armadilla sparred with Oshizushi as she juggled their attacks with her nunchucks. Then Armadilla landed a hard blow to Oshizushi with her arm bracer.

"Shell-ter!" said Carapace, creating a green forcefield with his shield to protect himself from Makizushi's relentless, rapidfire stabs from her polearm. He then pointed behind Makizushi's head. "Hey, look out!"

This made Makizushi look over her shoulder to find Rena Rouge and Ryuko doing a sweeping kick under her feet, making Makizushi trip on the floor.

At the same time, Inarizushi used her mallet to hit Chat Noir, Lion and Léopard like dominoes until they were all knocked down to the ground.

"Now to hit them with the finisher!" yelled Inarizushi. "Sisters, follow me!"

Les Sœurs Pêcheurs giggled in tandem as they jumped on top of Koiju, who roared with his ear-piercing voice.

"And that means it's superpower time," said Ladybug as all our heroes gathered behind her. "Time to converge!"

"Mirage!" said Rena Rouge, playing what sounded like a snake charmer's melody on her flute. "Rise, Mirakaiju!"

Suddenly, a gigantic rubber duck monster appeared. Ladybug looked to Rena Rouge, unsure of the plan.

"Just go along with it," reassured Rena Rouge.

Sure enough, Koiju tried fighting with the Miraculous kaiju, not realizing that it's swiping motions kept phasing through the mirage.

"Gosh," complained Oshizushi. "Koiju's such an idiot!"

"He's just a baby," said Makizushi. "Go easy on him!"

"Be quiet!" shouted Inarizushi.

It looked like Les Sœurs Pêcheurs and Koiju were completely distracted by the mirage, making it the perfect time to close in.

"Venom!" said Queen Bee.

Queen Bee threw her spinning top which turned into a bee stinger, injecting Koiju and immobilizing him. The sudden stop knocked Les Sœurs Pȇcheurs off balance and made them lose their ground on Koiju's head, ending up in freefall.

"Magie noire!" said Tigresse Blanche, clasping her hands together.

A large black orb formed around Les Sœurs Pȇcheurs and a smaller black orb enveloped Tigresse Blanche's hands. Les Sœurs Pȇcheurs were held in place by the orb in midair.

"We're stuck!" said Inarizushi.

"Put us down!" said Makizushi.

"Unleash all your powers on Koiju!" instructed Ladybug to her teammates.

"Wind Dragon!" said Ryuko, materializing into a powerful tempest that pushed against the sentimonster.

"Power of Ra!" said Lion, a heat wave emanating from his palms towards the monster.

"Cœur de glace!" said Léopard as large chunks of ice began raining down on Koiju.

"Daiyamondo Hādo!" said Armadilla, her skin developing a diamantine texture. Then she crossed her arms into an X before stretching them behind her, sending a flurry of diamond shards that pierced Koiju's rough skin.

"Uproar!" said Saru-hime, throwing a banana that ricocheted and hit all three of Les Sœurs Pêcheurs, rendering them powerless from now on.

"Cataclysme!" shouted Chat Noir, running off of the Skytree and landing an incredibly hard punch on Koiju.

The convergence of all our heroes' superpowers made the sentimonster and the akumatized girls plummet at lightning speed to the ground.

Chat Noir landed on his feet on the platform, returning to all his superhero friends. They started hearing faint cheers.

"Tentōchū-chan!" chanted the crowd of Tokyoites from down below.

"They are cheering for you, Ladybug," said Ryuko.

Ladybug blushed, flattered by this show of appreciation. Queen Bee, on the other hand, crossed her arms.

"We helped too, you know," complained Queen Bee.

Everyone laughed at Queen Bee, but then stopped as they heard their Miraculouses beep—it was time to de-transform.

"It's been great, guys," said Chat Noir. "But it looks like we're all running out of time."

"We should do this again sometime," said Carapace. "I could get used to being a superhero."

"Come on," said Rena Rouge. "Let's go!"

Ryuko translated what Rena Rouge said to Armadilla, looking disappointed that their journey was coming to an end. Armadilla walked up to Ladybug, bowing her head.

"Arigato gozaimasu, Tentōchū-chan," said Armadilla.

"Arigato, Armadilla-chan," said Ladybug, bowing as well and giving a warm smile in return.

Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Lion, Léopard, Queen Bee, Carapace, Ryuko and Armadilla all quickly ran towards the nearest exit so they could de-transform in private.

Ladybug and Tigresse Blanche were the only two still atop the Skytree, waiting through an ominous silence.

"You feel it too, don't you?" asked Ladybug.

"Yes, there's—" started Tigresse Blanche, her face overcome with horror. "Marinette!"

The name absentmindedly escaped Tigresse Blanche's lips. Ladybug felt the blood drain from her cheeks when Koiju's hand slammed against the Skytree where the two heroines were standing. If Ladybug were standing a foot closer, she would have been a goner.

"What did you just call me?" asked a flabbergasted Ladybug, turning to Tigresse Blanche slowly.

"I, uh... know you're Marinette," said Tigresse Blanche, not seeing any possible way out of this conversation. "I've known ever since you started."

"Master Fu told you?" said Ladybug.

"No," said Tigresse Blanche. "My cousins and I kind of snooped and found out on our own. My aunt Jeanne was the previous Ladybug and I wanted to find out who was taking her place."

Ladybug allowed all of this information to sink in, bracing herself for what Tigresse Blanche was going to reveal next.

"I guess I should tell you my own identity, just to be fair," said Tigresse Blanche shakily, clearly uncomfortable with being this vulnerable. "I'm… Seline."

Ladybug's expression remained shockingly calm, with only her eyebrows raising slightly.

"And I'm guessing Léopard and Lion are Timothée and Gérard?" said Ladybug, connecting all the pieces. "It all makes sense now. These three new students come to school and right around the same time, three new superheroes show up."

"And we go by the name Team Panthera," said an embarrassed Tigresse Blanche.

"Why does that sound familiar?" wondered Ladybug. "Wait… wasn't that your group name during our bootcamp?!"

Tigresse Blanche shrugged awkwardly, the two of them chuckling nervously at the ridiculousness of this whole situation.

"I hate to disrupt this heartwarming girl chat," said Inarizushi still mounting Koiju, completely disheveled along with her sisters behind her who were struggling to stay conscious. "But this fight… isn't… over!"

"Yes, it is," said Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug flung her yo-yo up into the sky. The yo-yo kept going higher and higher until it was no longer visible.

"Where'd it go?" asked a confused Ladybug.

She and Tigresse Blanche heard a faint hum get louder until a giant aircraft burst forth from the clouds: it was a red Pterodactyl Battle Zord with black polka-dots.

"What is that!?" shouted Tigresse Blanche.

"I feel like I've seen it before," said Ladybug. "But I can't remember where..."

The Zord descended to Ladybug and Tigresse Blanche's level but it wasn't stopping.

"Jump on it!" said Ladybug.

Ladybug and Tigresse Blanche hopped onto the Zord as it zoomed past. The Zord took them away from the sentimonster then did a U-turn, directing them straight towards it. The Zord smashed into Koiju's face, sending him plummeting to the ground. Les Sœurs Pêcheurs hopped off his head and onto the Zord.

"This is not the ride we asked for!" said Oshizushi.

"Too bad," said Ladybug. "Because you've got a one way ticket to de-akumatization!"

Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around all three girls. Tigresse Blanche clawed at their friendship bracelets, breaking them. Ladybug plucked their hairpins, breaking them one by one. The akuma came out of the bracelets and the amok came out of Inarizushi's koi fish hairpin.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma and amok," said Ladybug. "Je t'ai eu! Bye-bye, petite plume et petit papillon."

Ladybug caught both the akuma and the amok in her yo-yo. The butterfly and the feather became purified and she set both free.

The three girls returned to normal and the Zord dropped all of them down gently.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" said Ladybug as she threw her yo-yo into the air.

A rush of healing Ladybug essence repaired all the damage, reverting Tokyo back to its tranquil, pristine cityscape. The Zord vanished as it was no longer needed.

"Where are we?" said the girl formerly known as Oshizushi.

"And where's our food!?" said the girl formerly known as Inarizushi. "When our dad hears about this, that mermaid café is going out of business!"

"Stop!" said the girl formerly known as Makizushi. "Can't you see that we're the bad ones? If our mom saw us right now, she would be ashamed of us."

While the girls were having their personal conversation, Ladybug pulled Tigresse Blanche to an abandoned alleyway and they both de-transformed from exhaustion, making it official: the two superheroines knew each other's true identities.

"So, uh," started Marinette bashfully, trying to break the silence. "Does that mean you know Chat Noir's identity, too?"

"Maybe," said Seline with a mischievous smile on her face. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"No," said Marinette, shaking her head. "It wouldn't be right for me to know."

"Not even if he were the love of your life?" she said in a hushed tone.

Before Marinette could even react to what Seline said, every mechanical billboard in Tokyo cut to black. Concerned murmurs washed over the city when the billboards all suddenly flashed back on and the unthinkable happened: the visage of none other than Papillon was broadcast on every display.

"Ladybug," said Papillon with Japanese subtitles on the screen. "You thought you could steal my Miraculous and end my reign as Papillon, but you were wrong! Now that I've retrieved my power, you've given me no choice but to unleash a plethora of supervillain titans to end you and your gang wherever you may go! Consider this your final warning."

The billboards returned to their Japanese advertisements. An uncomfortable silence fell on the city of Tokyo, unnerving Marinette and Seline. From this moment on, it became abundantly clear to Marinette—nowhere is safe.

* * *

We can't believe we're finally at the end! Thank you for all the support, guys. We hope you all liked reading this story as much as we enjoyed writing it! We're going to be focusing full time on our Ilvermorny story now, so if you guys like our writing style, make sure to check it out! As for the action-packed second arc of the Miraculous Tails story, it's going to be inspired by martial arts, stylish-action video games, action RPGs, and stunt choreography. To give you a taste of what it's gonna be like, here's the official summary.

Miraculous Tails: Diamond Hard \- Ladybug and Team Panthera officially join forces to deal with the repercussions of defeating Papillon in Tokyo. The war is not over, however, for Papillon plans to retaliate with a series of supervillain titans. Feeling unequipped to fight such adversaries, Marinette and Team Panthera seek Master Fu's tutelage, taking martial arts classes to improve their self-defense skills. New abilities and new mythical transformations await our Miraculous heroes.

P.S. Have a happy holidays, everyone!


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